Finding Love
by Tower-of-Peace
Summary: Kakashi is assigned on a mission to watch over two sisters from a clan that has been wiped out. The older sister is assigned by Tsunade-hime to use her talents; the younger sister finds a new training partner. KakashiOC/KibaOC/Hints to normal pairings.
1. Chapter 1

_**Finding Love**_

By _Tower of Peace_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto characters, just my own that I've created for this fan- fiction.

_--Sorry if there are any mistakes...I'll find some way to fix them if there are good reviews. Enjoy!--_

_(This is also after timeskip so everyone is in respective ages as of Shippuuden series)_

Chapter 1

It had been a long day. Frankly, it had been overly hot, dry and they had been traveling for six days on little food and water. The older of the two glanced beside her at her younger counterpart to see how she was doing. The sweet rose color on her cheeks and the mist upon her face spoke of the heat so the older sister didn't need to ask how she was doing.

"We will rest for this hotter part of the day so that the heat doesn't cause us harm," she said as she headed for the shade of an oak tree. Surprisingly the younger one didn't object. Parched, the two gulped down the last of their water and hoped they were close to Konoha. Judging by her calculations, Ayaka knew it should be within a couple miles. 'Thank God. We barely made it this far…'

"Aya, do you think that getting to Konoha will get those men off our backs?"

"Sure. We have friends in Konoha, and Tsunade wouldn't turn us out, not when we go so far back."

"Is she truly their Hokage? I just can't see her doing all that paperwork."

"She has talents where they're needed and she has Shizune watching her every move so I don't worry about it."

"True enough…"

"I just can't wait to see the look on her face when we tell her we are being followed by those men. That ugly man has some nerve."

"It was bound to happen…we are the last." Nyoko fed her partner as he meowed loudly for some of his food.

"Regardless, there is no way I'm letting him get away with his ridiculous plans. Even if Kabuto threatened to take my very existence he isn't getting it."

"Let's not worry about it right now and get to Konoha. We need a nap, don't we Takahiro?" she asked as her cat echoed his agreement eagerly.

"Not only a nap for me. A cool shower sounds amazing right now." The sisters grinned at each other before exiting the shade and strapping their things to their backs. Quickly they jumped onto a rock then into the treetops as their last boost of energy got them to their destination.

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Ayaka smiled as they landed in front of the Konoha gates.

"Just smell all the venders, Nyoko. Has food ever smelled so heavenly?"

"Not that I can remember…" she said as they approached the check-in desk.

The two men behind the desk looked oddly at the two and the sisters glanced at each other in question. Nothing seemed out of place…

"Is something the matter?" Ayaka asked in slight agitation.

"N-no. Not at all. Papers?" the one on the left said. His hair was spiky and dark as well as his eyes but there was a wrap across his nose and cheeks.

As they checked out their papers they realized they were guests of Tsunade and allowed them to pass. Eagerly they asked if they needed escorts but Nyoko turned her head back to reply.

"Not at all, sir, we know the way." She grinned happily as her cat jumped down and walked beside her now that they were in Konoha. The cat sang his farewell as it swished its tail contentedly behind him.

"Stop flirting little one, or they might think you're interested."

"Stop calling me 'little one', I'm 14 years old you know, and besides its harmless friendliness."

"Yea, well, don't come crying to me when one asks you to meet him somewhere for dinner."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. 'No' is an easy word for me," she said as she giggled at the truth.

"I know, but I also know how bad you feel when you break their hearts with that little wor--!"

"Ahhh!"

"What in the world?!" Aya yelled as a blonde-headed youngster fell on top of her - right in the middle of the street.

"Oh! I'm sorry miss, I fell……." Naruto left his sentence hanging as he saw who he bumped into.

"Naruto, how can you be…?" Sakura started until she saw the two ladies who had different forehead protectors from Konoha.

The older sister dusted herself off as she regained her sack from her sister.

"Who are you two?" Naruto asked before getting pounded in the back of the head by his pink-haired teammate.

"Baka! Don't be rude. Good day, my name is Sakura, and this is my teammate Naruto."

"Pleased to meet you," Nyoko said before noticing her sister was studying the boy in front of them.

"You can't be serious," Ayaka said before Naruto or Sakura turned to her for her name.

Naruto, open-mouthed and scratching his head made a noise that sounded like 'eh?'

"Sakura, you've grown a lot since I last saw you, and Naruto, I figured you would be shorter considering how small you were as a baby."

Both Konoha ninjas looked so confused that it made the sisters laugh out loud.

"It doesn't seem like they remember you, Aya," the younger one said between giggles.

"It can't be helped; it's been a long time." Ayaka introduced herself as the older sister and her little brunette friend was her little sister, Nyoko. "We are on our way to Tsunade if you would like to join us. I can tell you how I know you."

"Baa-chan? You know her too?"

"Naruto, if she knew us, why wouldn't she know her, baka?" Sakura said as she seethed through her teeth.

"It's alright Sakura, but yes, we know her as well," Ayaka said suppressing her laugh to the best of her ability. "Walk with us."

They explained that their country had helped watch over the women and children of Konoha during the Nine-tailed Fox invasion. Ayaka had watched over Sakura along with a couple other infants that they knew as their fellow ninjas such as Shikamaru, Shino, and Ten-Ten. Ayaka had also been present for the sealing of the nine-tails and that was why she knew Naruto. Sakura was impressed that Ayaka was as much help at 12 years old and past the genin stage by then. The group had arrived at the Hokage mansion when she was done summarizing the details.

"Thank you for escorting us."

"I'm glad to have met you, again," said Sakura.

"Will you be here long?" Naruto asked without hesitation.

"I have no doubt you'll be seeing a lot of us because we'll be staying in town," Nyoko said as she gestured toward downtown Konoha.

"Oi, then tomorrow for lunch I will take you to the best ramen restaurant in the world!" Naruto said as he smiled excitedly.

The sisters laughed. "Thank you, Naruto. We look forward to it," Ayaka said as she turned to wave them good-bye. After the two rounded a corner the sisters headed for the Hokage's office.

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"Just in time, friends," Shizune said as she gave the two a quick hug outside the office.

"We hoped we were," Nyoko replied pleasantly as they were escorted in.

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"I have appointed a jounin for the two of you, particularly to help you see more of the city and how it has changed but also to help you, Ayaka, with your work."

"Thank you, Tsunade. When do we meet this jounin?"

"Am I late?" a masculine voice asked from behind the two sisters. Ayaka turned a questioning brow in the direction of the voice.

"Right on time, Kakashi. Ladies, this is who you will spend time with here in Konoha, Hayate Kakashi. If you have a question he has your answer."

"Pleased to meet you, Kakashi," the sisters said at the same time.

"Oh? No, no, it is my pleasure to finally meet you," Kakashi said, apparently grinning from under his face mask.

"Well, you are dismissed," Tsunade said smiling strangely at Ayaka but Ayaka ignored it. She and her sister followed the masked man into the hall and then they were told to wait. Kakashi went back into the office and shut the door quietly. Ayaka couldn't make out what was being said but she didn't want to eavesdrop so she leaned up against the opposite wall as he sister sat down on the floor next to her. Takahiro curled in Nyoko's lap and got comfortable just in case it took a while.

After fifteen minutes passed Naruto came running down the hallway this time seeing the sisters and stopping quickly. "Is Baa-chan busy?"

"In there, Fish-cake," Ayaka said teasingly because she was tired and was running out of patience for the jounin.

"Oi!"

Ayaka was laughing at his expression when the door finally opened. Ayaka took another look at the man that was going to be their "tour-guide" but was surprised to see a tint of blush rise above his mask.

"Nani?" she asked before thinking about politeness.

"You are going to have to stay in the apartments near my place. I hope that's alright."

"I suppose so, as long as they have soft beds and nice showers," Nyoko said from her position on the floor.

Naruto entered the office and closed the door behind him.

"Okay, let's go," Kakashi exclaimed but waited for Nyoko and Takahiro to get up.

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When they reached the apartments of which Kakashi had spoken, the small-talk ended…abruptly.

"Anou…" Nyoko said before looking at her sister for a comment.

"We're going to be staying above a bar?" Ayaka asked with her brow raised and her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry, I tried to convince Tsunade you'd prefer something else but she insisted that you be close to me and this is the best we could do."

'In more ways then one if I know her…' Ayaka thought exasperated. Tsunade didn't care the least for anyone else's love life but apparently had taken it upon herself to find Ayaka a handsome…no that wasn't the word—Talented- and wise ninja that would treat her right and help carry on the lineage that was so important to Mr. Ugly himself - Orochimaru. The evil man had disappeared from sight for the length of time that the Akatsuki was causing issues but now that they were taken care of Ayaka had a feeling he was back to his old games. Ayaka cringed at the thoughts that assaulted her once more. Too many things that were starting to give her stomach ulcers.

"Well, it's definitely not my preference, and it worries me about the atmosphere with Nyoko. Don't get me wrong, she can take care of herself, but it still bothers me."

"I understand. What if you two took my apartment and I took this spot?" Kakashi offered generously and again with a cheeky, covered-up, grin.

"Well, if you're okay with the switch then I'm all for it, Kakashi," Ayaka said politely as relief settled in her stomach. She looked into his only-showing-eye and didn't expect to get caught in it so suddenly. For a minute in time she couldn't comprehend where she was or why she was there. The only thing she knew was – he was going to be dangerous to her on a personal level.

'Not if I can help it…' she thought stubbornly.

"I'll pack my things and show you around the area. The apartment is this way…" he escorted them into a three-story building holding many apartments. "These are most of the single special jounin and skilled chunnin's apartments."

The sisters settled easily as Kakashi packed and explained some odds and ends. He was ready to leave within an hour but Ayaka wasn't done talking to him so she said she would walk with him to the place above the bar.

"No need, Ayaka."

"I want to discuss some things with you, if now isn't a bad time."

"Of course. Nyoko, if you or anyone needs me I'm above the bar on the corner in room 211."

"Okay Kakashi-sama. Thank you again!"

"No problem at all," as he shut the door behind them and started down the hall with the tall blonde. He noticed her height just three inches shorter than himself.

"Business?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"When do we start?"

"Monday."

"Do I need anything special?"

"No, just your usual equipment - and that pretty smile you keep hiding," Kakashi said candidly when they reached the staircase.

"I'm not hiding anything," Ayaka said seriously but knew it wasn't the full truth. "So how many are involved with this little project we are assigned to?"

"Just you and me." Kakashi opened the door to the room and entered after her.

'Oh, dear me…this might be harder than I first thought.' Ayaka smiled casually as she scanned the room. "I'm sorry to be putting you out here like this…"

"It's okay, no problem."

"Is nothing a problem for you?" she asked teasingly.

"Nothing I can think of," he commented with a smile to his voice and started to put away his clothing.

"Good to know. So how long do you think this will take?"

"I'll be done in two minutes."

She laughed noticing his joke, "You know what I mean."

"Two, maybe three, weeks if we're quick about it."

"I see."

"Anything you want to see or show your sister before we get started on Monday?"

"A tour of the mountain would be great and maybe a visit to the Academy."

"Tomorrow then, what time is good for you?"

"Oh, anytime I suppose, but I have a date for lunch so we'll have to work around it," she said as she looked out the window and down to the people around the outside of the bar.

Kakashi was behind her so she didn't catch him hesitating at the news, "A date? Already?"

"Yea, he's a persistent little guy, but he's a sweetie."

"Who?"

"Fish-cake."

"Naruto?"

"Yep, he told me he was going to have me taste the world's best ramen. I can't pass that up, I have a weak spot for noodles and cute guys," she said jokingly. From her position at the window she could see his reflection and the look that came across his mostly-covered face. 'I'm glad he can take a joke…but what is he staring at?' Ayaka turned toward him to catch him staring at her butt. Giving him a questioning stare made him stutter, embarrassed that he was caught, and apologize.

"But it's not what you think; I was looking at the imprint of the thing in your back pocket."

"Oh, you mean this?" she asked as she pulled out the book she was currently reading. _Finding Love_ was a good book so far but it was by a new author so she wasn't sure how to judge it. As she explained to Kakashi about the main plot he grinned and nodded.

"It sounds good! I will pick that next to read."

"You read, too?" she asked skeptically.

"Off and on," he remarked knowing he seldom was without a book.

"It's rare to find guys that like to read, or at least admit to it."

"It keeps me from being bored and it's good for training."

"What kind of books do you read?"

"My last book was _Flirting Paradise_," he said as he sat on the end of the bed. Ayaka was more than shocked and tried to hide it from her face but it just couldn't be helped. "Nani?" he asked after she didn't comment.

"What kind of training do you speak of when you say its 'good for training'?"

Before Kakashi answered he laughed, "Ninja training. It makes the younglings think I'm not paying attention."

"I see. Well, I should get back to Nyoko, thanks for the information."

"See you tomorrow," he stated standing up to walk her to the door.

"Yea, oh, by the way, my sister and I are late sleepers so what if we left around ten?" she asked as she stepped into the hall but turned back to him.

"Works for me," Kakashi gave her a nod with his head in agreement.

"Great, see you then!" Ayaka turned to go and then stopped, "Another thing, Kakashi…"

"Hm?"

"Does the conversation you had with Tsunade concern my sister and me?"

"No," he said nicely before echoing a goodnight.

When Ayaka arrived back Nyoko and Takahiro were sleeping on the floor on layers of blankets so she tried to remain as quiet as possible. She sighed hoping she would be able to get a good rest before she had to walk any further. Pushing back the covers on the bed after her toiletries were done she crawled in, loving the feel of the covers. She rolled onto her side and was aware of a soft and masculine musk smell from the pillow. Inhaling it in deeply Ayaka calmed almost immediately. She flipped her long blonde hair across the pillow and was asleep before she could process much more.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nyoko couldn't stay asleep any longer. The sound of purring rung in her ears as she felt a small sandpaper-like tongue cover her face. She tried to push the cat away, but his persistence exceeded her understanding.

'Fine, fine, I'll get up already.' She looked around the room, remembering the previous day. It also brought to mind the jounin who was now to be their escort. She glanced at Ayaka, still sleeping, as expected. 'He sure was good looking…' She couldn't help but wonder about the two of them.

She threw on her corset and skirt, and then went to the bathroom for her morning hygiene, Takahiro not far from her heels.

Nyoko ran the brush through her dark hair as she glanced in the mirror. She saw a girl with slanted, somewhat scary eyes, above two sets of three freckles that resembled whiskers. Below the freckles was a pair of lips that framed a row of teeth with canines sharper than most, almost like fangs. Her sister, however, did not have these features, for her attributes were somewhere else. Nyoko often wondered if the rest of her clan had these features, since her sister did not. She had no way of knowing, for her family had been away from the clan for her younger years and the day they decided to return was the day they were wiped out.

Suddenly, she heard a moan from the other room, sounding somewhat muffled. Nyoko peeked, curiously, out the door to find her sister still lying in bed, but clinging to the pillow. She had a strange grin upon her face even with her eyes closed.

"Ayaka-sama…Are you alright?"

Ayaka opened her eyes sleepily, still holding the grin.

"Nyoko! Um… Ohayou!" She apparently snapped out of whatever dream she was having. Nyoko just stared at her, wondering why she was acting so cheery for just waking up. That was unusual for her.

They finished getting ready after having a breakfast of donburi. Ayaka was ready promptly but Nyoko took her time, making Ayaka a little nervous about the hour.

"Are you ready yet?" Ayaka questioned as she gave a last check in the mirror.

"Hai, just one more thing!" She grabbed her jacket and slipped her arms through the sleeves.

Ayaka locked the door and attached the keys to the inside of her back-bag. They walked down the stairs and said 'ohayou' to everyone they passed. The weird looks and crooked grins made the sister's smile even wider. As they reached the landing to the front door of the building they pondered if the weather was going to be sunny or cloudy.

After waiting thirty minutes Nyoko sat down with Takahiro curling in her lap. Ayaka started getting worried and was about to go see how he was doing when suddenly Kakashi appeared. Ayaka wasn't too happy by the look on her face and Nyoko was worried about her temper if he didn't have a good enough reason to why he was late.

"Konnichi wa! I was on my way but--"

"Don't even bother telling us, Kakashi, just apologize," Ayaka said from her position on the step. Kakashi opened his eye and nodded.

"**Sumimasen**(I'm very sorry). Shall we go?" he requested politely as a couple more ninjas exited the building.

"Hai, let's go to the academy first, though," Nyoko responded stretching with her cat before moving. She ran ahead of the older two after Kakashi told her the way.

Ayaka walked firmly yet gracefully at each step she took. Even though her outside appearance didn't look like her sister or cat-like she had perfect balance and big green eyes. Her light blonde hair swayed behind her and reached her lower back. Most people noticed the light and dark striping in the color but it was natural highlighting from the sun.

"So, did you sleep well?" Ayaka asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Hai, very well. You?"

"Never better," she said without looking at him because she knew she blushed slightly.

"Why are you flushing? Do you feel okay?"

"Hai, arigatou. It's nothing."

"If you say so…" Kakashi answered as he slipped his hands back into his pockets.

They watched as Nyoko reached the Academy first and waited at the front door for them.

"Just so you know…I will want an explanation as to why you were late this morning," Ayaka said before getting into Nyoko's hearing range – which was pretty far considering her cat-like hearing. Kakashi nodded but said nothing.

They toured the first floor then on the second floor they started seeing students which was a joy for Ayaka because she loved kids. Everywhere they went they got stares but Ayaka and Nyoko smiled and waved in return.

Kakashi knew so much and was very informative. Ayaka liked his way of telling things, he made it seem more interesting. Nyoko had questions here and there and Kakashi answered in an educated and leisurely way. When Takahiro started perking his ears at something, he sprinted over to a hallway and looked down it. The three then heard a girl's voice ring out.

"Oh! Konohamaru, look! That cat looks like the one Naruto-kun told you about."

"Ah ha! They must be near, come on!" Then the sound of feet echoed toward them. Takahiro sprinted toward Nyoko and jumped onto her shoulders when he reached her.

Ayaka watched closely as three young teens came around the corner and froze. It gave her a minute to register what they looked like. The first boy had brown hair, a scarf around his neck that hung to the floor and was wearing a yellow shirt with the Konoha leaf symbol. The little girl had orange hair in tall pigtails and the boy next to her had glasses and brown hair.

Nyoko giggled at the three but soon regretted it because Konohamaru snapped out of his stance and clenched his fist.

"What are you giggling at, do you not know who I am?!"

"Konohamaru. Don't be rude," Kakashi said from amid the two ladies.

"It's okay, and I wasn't laughing at you, Konohamaru, so don't worry. I respect the memory of your grandfather too; Ayaka tells me he was a great man," Nyoko said sweetly.

"Oh…"

"Nice to finally meet you Konohamaru, I'm Ayaka, and this is my sister Nyoko. The cat is Takahiro."

Coming out of his surprise once more Konohamaru beamed apologetically and scratched his head.

They all decided to go outside as they talked about the final events of the previous Hokage and how things have changed since then.

"We're going to the mountain after this if you want to join us…" she said as they reached the gate of the Academy.

"Actually, we are on a mission, but arigatou, Ayaka-sama," the little girl said from behind her loud team-mate.

"Have a good day, then," both sisters said at the same time. Kakashi and the young teens arched their brows at them. The sisters just laughed.

"It happens all the time, don't mind us," Nyoko said.

As the six parted ways at the gate Kakashi placed his right hand on Ayaka's elbow to stop her from walking away. Ayaka turned her head swiftly to see what the matter was but Nyoko kept going because she was already in the treetops. Unconsciously Ayaka put her hand on his chest to keep him half an arms length away.

"Good reflexes."

"What are you doing?"

"Look down."

She did as she was told and noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of the ground. Looking back at him she realized what it was.

"Arigatou."

Kakashi nodded his welcome then made everyone move so he could set off the exploding tag. After he did he scanned the ground with his sharingan but kept his back to the two girls so they weren't able to see him lift the lopsided forehead protector.

"What's he doing, aneki?" Nyoko asked.

"I'm not sure…he seems to be scanning the ground for any more tags."

"I hope this was just a mistake…"

"Me too."

Kakashi found no more but his guard went up double time. It made him worried that people were leaving tags around…and the fact that if he hadn't seen the paper, Ayaka could have been seriously hurt.

"Okay, it's all clear."

"Why would that have been there?" Nyoko asked worried.

"I'm not sure, but I will find out, don't worry."

"Let's get going, we're going to run out of time to meet Naruto-kun." Nyoko said as Takahiro jumped onto her shoulders.

"Maybe we should find him and see the mountain after we eat, considering we got a late start," Ayaka said meaningfully to the male beside her.

"Oh, hahaha…" he laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Maybe we should; it will take a long time to see it all."

Nyoko looked disappointed but complied knowing they were right. As they passed through the streets they saw many people turn toward them and gawk but the sisters ignored it. Kakashi, on the other hand, glared at the men taking notice of the two attractive sisters.

'I guess I have to get used to the attention they get from men, they seem to not even notice.' When they were going by the BBQ restaurant that Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino go to eat they heard voices talking over the din of the streets.

"I'm telling you, I don't know what they're good at, but they are so cool!" Sakura was heard saying.

"And they are amazingly pretty, too!" Konohamaru's female teammate said from behind the slotted wall.

The sisters looked at each other but kept walking until they heard a third female voice her opinion, "Maybe all they do is cast ninjutsu so that all you see is what they want you to see. I've never witnessed anyone _that_ pretty. You'd have to prove it to me that this Ayaka and Nyoko are anything like you say."

The sisters didn't move and Kakashi waited for their reaction. He wasn't sure if he should worry or not.

"Ino, you just wait, they're meeting Naruto for lunch. You'll see for yourself that it isn't a ninjutsu," Sakura said confidently.

"Yea!" the little voice said from beside her.

"Ayaka-sama! Nyoko-san!" Naruto yelled from down the street and the sisters looked up. Grinning at him they just kept walking knowing that Sakura had supported them. Kakashi was a little surprised but didn't make a comment.

'At least I didn't have to save Ino from any harsh reprimand these two would have dished out…not that I know what they would do. Tsunade wouldn't give me their particulars no matter how much I pressed her.'

They were sitting on the stools when Naruto leaned over suddenly to Ayaka, who sat next to Kakashi, and asked, "So…are you two getting along?"

Ayaka was confused at first until Naruto put up his hand and showed his pinky. Even though she was shocked at first she started laughing at Naruto's inquiry.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Fish-cake," she said as she messed up his hair. She looked over at Kakashi but he appeared to be oblivious to the conversation. 'Whew, I don't want him thinking I'm after him or something…' Ayaka then looked next to Naruto and saw that Nyoko was drawing on her napkin. 'That sister of mine is so much like me…' "Nyoko, is Takahiro eating?"

"Hai, nonde?"

"No reason…" but she was watching the cat glaring off into the other street from his perch on her shoulder. He seemed to be sniffing the air for something.

The bowls were set before them and they all said "**Itadakimasu!**" before eating.

"Oi, Fish-cake, you're right, this is amazing ramen," Ayaka commented happily to him then turned to Kakashi but seeing that his bowl was empty made her look up at him quickly. "You're done?"

"Hai, great eh?" he said with a smile. Her confused brow shot up at him and he laughed.

"How do you eat so fast?"

"Uh, I don't know…"

"Did you even remove your mask?"

"Hai, it's not possible for me to eat with it on."

"Hmmmm…" she hummed from her stool then turned to check on her sister but as she saw the last bite go into Nyoko's mouth Takahiro jumped off of her back and ran down the street before Ayaka could even blink.

"Takahiro!" Nyoko twisted before running after him.

"Oh, dear…what has gotten into him?" Ayaka asked and chased after them. Before she knew it, Kakashi and Naruto were following as well.

Nyoko kept yelling for Takahiro and followed him through the streets until she came around a corner and saw him hissing at a large white dog. She looked up and saw the owner of the beast that was growling at her cat.

"Akamaru!" the teenager exclaimed as he realized a girl was behind the cat and looked up at her. He stepped back unexpectedly. 'Who is this? I've never seen her before…and she's pretty for being a cat owner.'

"Takahiro! Stop it!" she yelled but she was distracted by the dog-owner. 'Wow, his features…'

"What's your cat's problem?" he questioned with slight heat in his voice.

"He has a name, and he doesn't have a problem, unless you're referring to the beast growling at him!"

"He isn't a beast, he's a smart dog!"

"Isn't he a little too large to be considered a dog?"

"Isn't your cat a little too stupid to be picking a fight with a superior animal than himself?"

"Don't underestimate my Takahiro! He could kill your monster in two seconds flat!"

"I doubt it; Akamaru isn't in his fighting form," Kiba said confidently and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Neither is Takahiro!" Nyoko replied equally confident.

"Who are you anyways?" Kiba asked without finishing the argument.

"Nyoko!!" Ayaka called, finally seeing her. She ran up to her then spotted the other two. "What's going on here?" her older sister scolded.

"That boy right there and his beast are causing problems," Nyoko stated firmly. Ayaka could see her sister calming but it wasn't good that she was having an argument with a Konoha villager.

"I'm not a boy, either, I'm Kiba. This is my _dog_ Akamaru." Kiba's face was flushed around his red cheek marks that lined them.

"Mattakou mou…" Nyoko sighed exasperatedly.

"Quit Nyoko. Don't be rude to Konoha nin, we're guests, remember?" Ayaka reprimanded and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well doesn't that mean he needs to be more congenial, too?" Nyoko asked irritably.

"Nyoko…apologize."

She rolled her eyes but mumbled "Gomen…" she then snapped her fingers and Takahiro jumped onto her shoulders.

"Kiba," Kakashi said meaningfully.

"Akamaru," he called out so that the white dog would stop growling and come to him, "Gomen."

"Now that you two are finished, let's go tour the mountain," Aya replied politely before realizing that they had Naruto with them still.

"Dewa ike, datteba yo!" Naruto yelled in excitement. Ayaka tried to suppress her laugh and a little huff came out instead. Kakashi gave her a sideways glance to make sure she was okay but soon realized what she had done.

"Naruto, aren't you on a mission today?"

"Eh, Kakashi-sensei how do you know that?'

"I am in correspondence with the Hokage. And don't make me remind you one more time that I'm not your sensei anymore."

"What are you to him then?" Ayaka questioned from beside him.

"His teammate," Kakashi answered calmly.

"Oi, Ayaka-sama, I know more about the mountain, let me come!" Naruto insisted.

"It seems I was warned in good right about you. I'm sorry but I must uphold the rules for you, Fish-cake. Maybe next time, okay?"

"Yea, well, it won't be as fun - you just wait and see." Naruto walked away down the street in the opposite direction waving his hand above his head.

"He is something else…isn't he?" Nyoko asked smiling.

"He's a complete sweetheart," Ayaka said in response to her sister, "alright we can—

"Aya," Kakashi's voice stopped her, "Kiba, would you like to join us?"

Kiba stood with his hands in his pockets pondering on what he should do then finally shrugged his shoulders and Akamaru barked, "Why not, I wasn't sure what I was going to do today anyways."

Nyoko didn't look overjoyed but Ayaka could tell it didn't bother her as much as she was acting.

"Arigatou, Kakashi, for stopping me…" she whispered to him as she stepped into time with his steps.

"No problem," he replied looking ahead of himself, "Thanks for letting Naruto know what was more important; he doesn't seem to listen to me like he does you."

"Well, I was only thinking of him, I don't want to cause him problems with Tsunade…by the way, why did you call me Aya?"

"Oh? Gomen, I didn't ask permission—

"No, it's okay, I was just wondering…" Ayaka left off when more heated words were heard from the two in front of them.

"I told you before, he's a dog."

"What do you feed him, growth pills?"

"No."

"Then why is he so huge?" Nyoko asked with her lip slightly turned up.

"He's special," Kiba shot back.

"It was just a question, goodness!" Nyoko exclaimed before walking ahead of Kiba and his over-grown pup.

"I've never seen two teens argue as they do…and Nyoko typically gets along with everyone," Ayaka pondered out loud.

"They'll get over it," Kakashi said, "they just aren't used to each other yet."

"I hope you're right."

Most of the way to the mountain was pleasant after that because the two teens sped off ahead of the two slightly older ninjas. Ayaka couldn't remember the last time she could comfortably walk beside a guy without talking; it was almost like they had a silent understanding. She grinned lightly taking in the beautiful weather.

The mountains continued to get bigger as they approached and soon they were in the coliseum that led to the stairwell. Choosing the middle stairway, the two proceeded upward in complete unison.

"Naruto was wrong, wasn't he?"

"Eh? Oh, hai. I know more about the mountain," he said laughing, "and even though you won't have as much fun without him, you'll learn twice as much."

"I'm sure I will have fun, you aren't the boring type, I can tell," Aya said before passing him with a grin.

'What was that weird heart-pace I just had…could it have been what she said?' Kakashi watched as Aya leaned on the railing and closed her eyes, 'Maybe it was the exercise from the stairs…or the tone of voice she used.'

As Ayaka's hair blew behind her she started humming softly a song he didn't recognize.

'Or maybe she just amazes me.' Kakashi shook his head slightly to erase the unusual thoughts.

"Ayaka, over here!" Nyoko sounded from further up.

Aya kept going but quicker than Kakashi for means of reaching her sister. When Kakashi lazily reached the landing he noticed Kiba informing the two sisters the way the faces were made and the attempt to destroy them three years ago.

"So is that why there's a crack in that face?" Nyoko asked in interest.

"No, actually, that was cracked the day the Third Hokage died…when Orochimaru attacked," Kiba said with anger filling his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied back in hopes he'd go back to being happy again.

"Oi, it's okay, we made it through it and now we're ready for the next attempt if he's as stupid as I think he is," Kiba said with a big grin on his face.

Nyoko smiled at him thinking how his goofy face reminded her of Naruto. Not knowing that her sister was watching her, Nyoko continued to study him until he opened his eyes to continue his fact telling.

After a couple hours they decided that it would be nice to find some kind of cold wa-gashi (dessert) to hold them over until dinner. Descending was quicker because they jumped down ten to fifteen steps at a time.

When they found a little place they took a booth, the sisters sitting by each other on one side and the guys across from them. Kiba scolded Akamaru to stay on the floor and not growl at Takahiro and Nyoko said something similar to Takahiro. The cat curled into a ball and soon fell asleep.

Ayaka watched until the waitress was next to her and gave them the dessert menus. She browsed through it seeing a favorite of hers and ordered some water to go with it, Nyoko ordered the same, and the other two had their 'regulars' –whatever that was.

'Why is there warmth on my leg…,' Ayaka thought as she glanced down under the table and saw that her leg was leaning against Kakashi's leg, or was it the other way around? Either way, Aya chose to ignore it to the best of her ability.

Kiba actually found a topic that Nyoko enjoyed talking about: the appetites of their animals. Soon they were in a discussion that the other two were ignorant about. It was good to see the young ninja get along considering their first meeting was so rough.

"I'm glad you could spare the day to show us around, Kakashi," Ayaka whispered to him from across the table.

"Oh, hai, just doing my job," he responded scratching the back of his head and smirking underneath his mask.

"Uh, I suppose," she answered a tad deflated even though she knew he wasn't implying he didn't want to…just that it was his duty, right? "Well, thanks anyway."

Their desserts arrived and Ayaka still wasn't able to see what his face looked like because his "usual" was a glass of lemon tea with a long straw that he put behind the mask. She stared for about five minutes until she snapped out of it, again, deflated that he wouldn't trust her with what he looked like underneath. 'Ugh, what do I expect, I haven't known him for more than a day!'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Later, when the four were walking out of the restaurant, Kiba and Nyoko kept their conversation to themselves as Aya and Kakashi had grown uncomfortably silent. Aya looked up and noticed Sakura, a blonde with blue eyes, and Naruto walking toward them. Not knowing what the three were up to made the older two ninjas glance at each other.

"Konban wa, Ayaka-sama, Nyoko-san," Sakura said as they got closer.

"How are you all this evening?" Nyoko asked sweetly to the three ninja.

"This here is Ino-chan," Naruto started, "she doesn't believe us that you two"—

Sakura hit his head from the back before giggling and scratching her upper arm, "We would like you to meet her, and everyone else, since you'll be here a while, Ayaka-sama, Nyoko-san."

"Oh, yoroshiku onegai shimasu Ino-chan," the sister's stated in unison.

Ino didn't say anything so the sisters cleared their throat, snapping her out of her staring.

"Yoroshiku onegai shimasu…" Ino said softly, making the three males look at her strangely.

"Hopefully we'll get to know each other throughout our stay," Nyoko said from beside a silent and confused Kiba.

"Hai…" Ino replied stronger than before.

"Have you been looking for us?" Aya asked Naruto who appeared a little better winded than when they had first approached.

"Eh? Hai, I just finished my mission and have something to show you," he answered in a joyful way, "are you done with the tour?"

"Hai/No" was said at the same time but both in the direction of the oldest two.

"Unless you have more to show us, Kakashi," Ayaka inquired.

"Ah, no, I'm done," he said after a long pause. Aya noticed him scratch his head and squint his eyes closed in a cute fashion but it made her wonder if he was acting that way just to neutralize the situation.

The group, now bigger than ever, followed Naruto to where-ever he was taking them. Ayaka tried to see if anyone else had a clue but no one seemed to know either.

Nyoko soon fell in step with her and whispered, "Kiba wants to know if I can train with him tomorrow while you're working?"

Ayaka quickly looked down into her sister's cat-like eyes and wondered how half a day could change someone's attitude. "I suppose, just don't get over zealous, over-due yourself…or hurt him too badly." Her sister smiled back at her before rolling her eyes at her.

On Nyoko's way back to Kiba, she picked up Ino telling Sakura that they were right and that she couldn't believe she was wrong. Swiftly forgetting it, she got back to Kiba's side and let him know that they should meet at the front door of the apartment building she was staying at.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked giving her a chance to bow out.

"Don't tell me you're nervous."

"I'm not nervous at all; I just don't want to rough you up too much when you're only a guest here."

"Don't you worry about me, I can handle myself just fine," Nyoko said smiling and giving Takahiro a wink and a stroke over his black, feline back.

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The thing Naruto wanted to show everyone was his finished product from his mission – a haphazard building that looked like it was going to fall any minute. He stood in front of it very proud and exclaimed that it only took him six hours.

"I bet it did," said a heavy, female voice from behind the stunned crowd.

Aya turned around to see Tsunade and Shizune starring at the heap as well. She glanced back to see that Naruto wasn't the least bit fazed by their sarcasm and hoped he would never lose that kind of innocence.

"Baa-chan, this is cool huh?" he inquired happily.

"Oi, Naruto, do you mind if a decorated it a little bit for you, just to ad a 'woman's touch'?"

"Oh?"

Ayaka walked up to the walls and pulled out a brush from her back-bag. She held out her hand over some grass and the color from the blades visibly came toward her palm. Then, dipping the brush into some of the color, she vanished, leaving the walls green. Aya reappeared and the shed was now standing straight and sturdy with a fresh coat of paint on the outside. The roof was a clean tawny yellow color, which she got from some daffodils nearby. She turned back to the group, who all but her sister and Tsunade, were starring in disbelief.

They suddenly all started talking at once as she passed through them and stood back next to Kakashi. Most went into the shack to see what she did in there when unexpectedly she felt fingers wiping her check. Backing away, she saw that it was Kakashi and he had paint on his three middle fingers.

"Oh, arigatou."

He nodded without replying and tested the paint between his pointer finger and thumb, 'Interesting…I didn't even see her use hand signs.'

"You were fast. I think I was the only one who saw you work at a normal speed."

"Why would you be able to see me?" she asked raising her brow.

"A gift from a friend."

"Nani?" she inquired softly.

"Ayaka-sama, can you teach me that?" Ino hollered racing out. Aya turned and laughed but shook her head, "I'm sorry, it can't be taught. I just have it."

"What do you use it for?"

"Concealment mostly, but it comes in handy for much more I've found out."

"Is Nyoko-san able to do it?"

"Actually she took after our mother's side of the Feline clan and I have mostly our father's traits."

Ino ran over to Nyoko to ask her some questions but Aya was thankful and found a fence nearby to lean against. Tsunade smiled and nodded at Aya before leaving the premises with her assistant. Kakashi came to stand by Aya and didn't talk for a short time.

"I can see why she appointed you to this job."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled back at him.

"As well you should, but you haven't told me everything about yourself."

"What is it you want to know?"

"Ayaka-sama, arigatou, you made this even better than what I did!" Naruto hollered running up to her.

"Hai," she replied to his sweet thank-you.

"The others won't even believe how this turned out until they see it for themselves. I can't wait to show them! Won't they be surprised?!" he yelped before laughing a bit evilly. Aya laughed because his mannerisms made her do so on more than this account.

"It's dusk, will you want to show them tomorrow instead of today?" she asked suggestively, "you know they won't be able to see it well in the dark."

"Smart thinking, Aya-sama!" he exclaimed before going back to the group and informing them. Nyoko walked over to her sister, then, and Kiba followed close behind.

"Are we eating out tonight, Aya?" Nyoko asked hopefully but her sister didn't look like she was too thrilled about eating out again.

"Actually, I was thinking we should eat in tonight, just to save energy and money, what do you say?"

"But Aya, it's our first night here."

"That's right, our first, not our last, now let's eat at the apartment, okay?"

Nyoko didn't look satisfied but she nodded and started heading toward the streets of Konoha. Kiba told Nyoko he was going to walk with her so she wouldn't get lost. Aya smiled and decided to follow them. Kakashi stayed next to her in walking and seemed to be waiting for something.

"What is it?"

"Do you truly look like that or are you painted?"

The question shocked her so suddenly that she stopped mid-step. He turned, his hands still in his pockets, and lifted his right eyebrow.

"Nani?" she asked breathlessly as though she had been slapped in the face.

"Do you—

"I heard you," she interrupted, "I just can't believe you're asking me. Wouldn't you, of all people, be able to tell?" she asked harsher than she intended.

"I didn't mean to offend you."

"…gomen," she murmured before jumping onto some boxes and low roofs to get onto the top of the buildings.

She kept going, not caring if he followed or not. She couldn't believe how many times she was asked that, and out of everybody, he asked it. For a long time Aya thought that people were just curious but when guys started asking it usually was followed with something in the likes of "you can't be naturally that beautiful", "can you paint me a sexy woman?", or "how can I trust someone who can paint themselves into anyone?" but that one was typically by those who didn't become ninjas. She didn't get how it was different; most ninjas used altering techniques to hide who they were…including Tsunade.

"Ayaka," Kakashi had caught up and interrupted her thoughts, "matte."

They both paused on a roof close to the apartment and the corner bar. He stuffed his hands back in his pockets but remained close to her.

"I didn't mean anything by it. Actually, I'm amazed by your talent and it was just a question of interest."

"Just don't ask me to become someone else and I can live with you being around," she stated with her back to him.

"Gomen, I didn't realize it would upset you."

"No, it's not your fault…I know you aren't the type to…" Aya faded off not wanting to discuss it further. "Well, you're welcome to come eat dinner with us if you like," she said mostly amicable.

"Arigatou," he stated with a nod. He knew something ran much deeper than what she was saying but they shouldn't leave her sister waiting for them.

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Kiba gave Akamaru a look and the dog stayed back a ways from the entrance of the building. Takahiro climbed the steps ahead of Nyoko and waited for her.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, on the training field?" Kiba questioned and crossed his arms across his chest because he didn't know what to do with his hands.

"Sure, I mean, if you still wanted to," Nyoko claimed with a smirk.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Kiba replied and returned a lopsided grin.

Reaching out his hand for her to take, they shook and when he lingered in his hold she looked up to search his gaze. After another moment he let go and turned to leave.

Nyoko wasn't sure what to think about it but she knew one thing: her hand tingled.

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"So what was the shed for, anyways?" Nyoko asked from her spot on the floor.

"It's for an older man that got his house burned down on accident," Kakashi explained as he knelt down at his plate.

"Oh? What happened?"

"A couple academy boys were playing near his house and one whipped out one of his elements at the wrong time…the other boy he was training with was doing his wind exercises."

"I see," Nyoko claimed as she picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

"Iruka had to answer to it at first because they were told to go train but they didn't remember where he said to go."

"Who is Iruka?" Aya asked as she set her plate on the table before sitting.

"A teacher at the academy who taught Naruto's age group but now he works with Tsunade on matters of state."

"Did we meet him?"

"I don't believe so," he said.

"Hm," Nyoko said casually.

Kakashi looked over at his bed in the other room and noticed something unusual, 'I wonder when she got that box…' he then slightly and secretly lifted his protector to search the contents. 'Nani?'

"Is something the matter?" Aya asked but when he looked over she was asking her sister. Nyoko was picking at her food instead of eating it.

"No, nothing's the matter; I'm just not as hungry as I first thought."

"Oh?" 'That's not like her…maybe something was said between her and Kiba before I got back…' Aya searched her sister's face but Nyoko's head was downward.

"Well, thanks for the meal," Kakashi claimed as he stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

Ayaka turned and gawked, 'He did it again! How did I miss it?'

"Aya," Kakashi helped her up to take her to the other side of the room, "is that box either of yours?"

She looked over but had never seen it before now, "No," she shook her head slightly, "Nyoko, is this yours?"

Her sister looked up, "It was there when we got here."

Kakashi narrowed his eye then asked the girls to leave the room while he examined it.

"Are you sure? Would you like me to get the ANBU?"

"No, just go up to the roof and wait for me."

"Okay," Aya responded and ushered her sister up to the roof. "This is unusual but if that ugly troublemaker is involved I'm going to be upset." She looked at Nyoko and Takahiro was just looking up at her expectedly. "Hora! What's up with you?"

Her sister seemed to have come out of a trance and she smiled apologetically, "Gomen, Aya, what did you say?"

"Never mind, oi, did something happen between you and Kiba?"

"Well, kind of…it's just that I expected him to always be the way he was when we met but throughout the day he became more and more friendly, and I guess you can't always depend on your first perception of someone, eh?"

"Iie…you can't," she then thought back to her first impression of Kakashi and knew her perception of him had changed about three times since yesterday.

Just then, a big explosion rocked their balance, but it wasn't the building being affected, it was open air above them. Kakashi appeared beside them keeping them from falling then appeared again further in front of them. He used a water spray technique to quickly diffuse it before it hit the building with flames.

Ayaka had a moment to see Kakashi's forehead protector off of his eye but she wasn't able to see the eye itself only the scar over it.

'Wow, how did he get that I wonder…not going to lie, it's really attractive,' she thought before she processed it. Her cheeks felt a little flushed but got her mind off of it when she saw other ninja coming from inside to see what the commotion was all about.

Kakashi explained it was taken care of but a neighbor of his, another special jounin, rushed to the girls and asked if they were alright.

"Hai, arigatou," they replied at the same time.

"They're with me," Kakashi stated, letting him know that he'd take care of them and didn't need any help.

"I'm right next door, if you need anything," the blonde with dark eyes replied to Ayaka. His tone kind of made her question his motives so she ignored him. Kakashi put his body between them and ushered the girls toward the stairwell.

"Kakashi," she said taking his sleeve and her sister's hand, "was that the box?"

"Hai, I couldn't see all of its contents but I saw no less than six exploding tags just within the first layer of it to go off for anyone who tried to remove the lid. I wasn't about to let you…"

"It's okay, arigatou. Do you think someone is after you, or after us?" she asked trying to guess what he was thinking.

"I'm not waiting to find out. Come on, I have a place we can go." Kakashi was not happy about this but he needed more information before he put either of them in more danger. 'Who could possibly be doing this…well at least I know now that the tag in the school yard was planted and not a mistake.'

"Nyoko, grab all your things as swiftly as possible. We'll come with you to the bar's room," Ayaka stated to Kakashi and he nodded as they leapt to the doorway. He made a check throughout the room before letting them enter. They were out in five minutes. Jumping onto the roof of the bar they entered through the top hatch into the hallway. He again tested his room before letting them in.

"Anything we can do?"

"Oh, iie," he claimed before cleaning out the drawers in record time. He apparently didn't have much he considered valuable because Aya noticed just two books, three sets of clothes and two folded photos.

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Kiba was deep in thought as he held tight to the jacket collar. He walked through the woods toward his home with his pet slightly ahead of him. Akamaru noticed his silence and made a noise to get Kiba's attention but Kiba kept his grip on the lapel and his gaze on the ground. After a minute the large dog barked and this time Kiba looked over to him.

"What is it, Akamaru?"

Barking a couple times, Akamaru questioned what it was that kept his owner acting strange.

"I'm not acting strange," Kiba answered with slight agitation.

Akamaru growled in response.

"Well, even if I am, it has nothing to do with her."

Kiba and Akamaru arrived home shortly after and were entering the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. They heard his sister answer it and they ignored the messenger until he heard three names. Running to the door, Kiba froze when his sister closed the door and turned to face him with a sad expression.

"What did he just say?" Kiba asked hurriedly.

"Apparently there was a bomb in Kakashi's apartment where those two new ninja's were staying," she replied with a concerned expression.

"What happened?" he asked trying to process it in his mind and scary scenarios igniting in his minds eye.

"Kakashi blew it up without anyone getting hurt but they have disappeared taking their things with them—

Kiba pulled his shoes on and rushed out the door with Akamaru close behind.

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They were entering the woods to the left of the mountains when Aya saw him summon a pug-nosed dog and send it with quick orders, she guessed to Tsunade.

"If this is because of us, I'm truly sorry Kakashi," she whispered as they sped through the treetops.

"It's okay, Ayaka, I will protect you and your sister. I won't let anything happen to either of you."

"It's not that we need it, but I'm worried about wrecking your peaceful home…"

"I have no home…I have yet to make one." He kept his eyes ahead of him to avoid seeing the worried expressions on the girl's faces.

"Still, Kakashi-sensei, we wish this wasn't happening for your sake." Nyoko grinned nostalgically when she knew he heard her.

They all came upon a large cliff wall and stopped in front of it. Kakashi did some hand signs and a huge rock moved slightly revealing a slit, or door, for them to enter. The sisters glanced at each other and followed him in unquestioningly. They trailed an endless amount of corridors before coming upon a house-like room that was behind a solid door. Inside was a full, high ceiling, living room and connected to it was a bedroom to the left and a kitchen to the right.

"Who would have thought…?" Nyoko replied to the silent two beside her.

"I'll be right back," Kakashi said, then vanished.

Ayaka sighed wishing she knew what was going on and sank into the couch.

"It looks like we'll be sharing this room, Ayaka," Nyoko called from the bedroom; there was a wide bed and extra blankets at the foot of it. She also saw the mirror on the wall and then yelped, scaring her sister in the process.

"Nani?!" Aya ran into the room.

"I just remembered I'm supposed to meet Kiba-kun tomorrow, what's he going to do if I don't show up?"

"Probably sniff you out," she said laughing.

"Aya, this is serious, we just got here and now someone's after us?"

"I know Nyo, but I can't help that right now…" she stated becoming even more sober than before she was scared to death. Takahiro meowed from the kitchen and they walked to him. Nyoko spotted what he wanted and opened the can of fish for him to eat.

The two waited for what seemed like hours but the clock read forty-five minutes since Kakashi left.

"I think you should go to bed, eh?"

"I can't sleep with…okay; will you be in there soon?"

"We'll see," she said as her sister got off the couch. Aya wasn't able to sleep, not with the thoughts running through her mind, and not with Kakashi still absent.

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Akamaru sniffed through the apartment then followed the scent onto the roof where Kiba was checking the debris left over from the exploding tags. Kiba felt the water that was used to lessen its effectiveness and knew Kakashi had done the right thing. He felt better knowing that Kakashi was in charge and watching over the two ladies but he still felt a pull to make sure Nyoko was alright.

"I want to see her and make sure she isn't hurt," he whispered to no one in particular. Akamaru heard him and looked up from across the roof. His woof commanded Kiba to look at him. "You have a scent?"

With a nod, Akamaru and Kiba leapt to the ground and followed it to the apartment above the bar.

Kiba's stomach hurt with the thought that Nyoko would be above a bar but when they found that apartment empty Kiba picked up their scent heading into the woods. The man and beast followed until they realized Pakkun was coming toward them.

"Pakkun, what do you know?" Kiba asked as they approached each other.

The pug dog explained that the girls are in hiding, they don't know who is doing this – or why, and he was to get news to Tsunade.

Kiba nodded but before letting the dog go he asked about the welfare of the younger girl and the dog shrugged before disappearing into the woods.

"I'm going to find her, come on Akamaru," Kiba stated and followed the trail of scents toward the cliff.

Outside the slit in the rock he saw movement and howled softly to ask if it was Kakashi. Kakashi strutted out and motioned for Kiba to come out of hiding.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi inquired but had a hunch regardless.

"I heard what happened, how are things?"

"Things are under control."

"And Nyoko?"

"Sleeping by now," Kakashi answered without changing his expression.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Hai," Kakashi stated, "listen carefully."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kakashi's Pakkun was able to get an odor off the box before he blew it up but it wasn't a scent any of his dogs knew. He set the eight dogs up as patrol and left to let a number of trusted special jounin know what was going on to be on the safe side. Now that he had had a long day he was ready to sleep off the stress. He wound his way through the tunnels, knowing right where to go and how far he had left. He kept thinking back through the day but instead of coming up with clues he kept seeing beautiful images of her and her face…maybe he was loosing his mind.

Never had a woman plagued him like this. Her with her brilliant green eyes, long blonde hair and ideal mouth…yep, he had lost his mind.

He opened the door expecting the couch to be free but she was there. Her hair was draped over the armrest, the right side of her face resting on her upper right arm and her legs tucked to the left.

'Could it be I'm falling in--?' he cut off the thought so it wouldn't manifest. 'No, for one thing, I can't …' he paused in thought as he gently moved some hairs off of her face and saw her lips. 'No, she wouldn't choose someone like me.'

Kakashi softly picked her up cradle-style and started for the bedroom. Seeing that her sister was asleep in the bed, he felt okay with entering, and only the cat looked to see who it was prior to laying his head back down. Kakashi had never had to deal with this kind of situation before, especially feeling weird things for a talented ninja.

After placing her down she stirred toward him and grabbed his collar. His wasn't sure what to do but she moaned softly and let go gradually. His heart was pounding as he got his hand out from underneath her shoulder. In the process of freeing his arm, some of the wrapping on her upper arm came undone and revealed the skin there. Seeing a scar, he had to look again.

'I wonder how she got that…' Kakashi then pulled the covers up to her collarbone to tuck her in.

Not able to resist it anymore, Kakashi swept her hair back from her face and cupped her jaw lightly. With his thumb he felt the softness of her face and he was surprised how it looked just like it felt. Suddenly he heard purring and wasn't sure where it was coming from. Within a moment, he understood when his pinky could feel the vibration under her jaw.

'Well, it seems she got a little bit of her mother in her after all,' he thought smiling. Ignoring the sensation it was giving him he started to walk out and then noticed two sets of eyes on him. Feeling his face go warm he nodded at Nyoko and Takahiro before shutting the door behind him. He sighed from getting caught and wasn't sure what they thought of him now.

'Better to get some rest than worry about it though…'

Kakashi laid out the blanket and settled into the couch not worrying about sleeping in his clothes but he took off the vest to make it more comfortable. Thinking he was going to fall asleep quickly was a mistake…disappointingly.

'The last thing I should be doing is losing sleep because of a woman.' But he couldn't do much about it considering everything he did the last two days had everything to do with her. Trying to think back to all the people he knew who would want revenge for things that he had prevented made him finally fall into a light slumber.

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Nyoko was the first to wake up, again with Takahiro licking her face roughly but in his own little way of showing her he loved her. She pushed him away as usual then got up groggily and padded to the kitchen to feed him. Passing the sofa made her remember that Kakashi had stayed there also.

'Oops, better not wake him up…' and shushed Takahiro with her finger. In the kitchen she made sure not to make much noise then flipped her omelet onto her plate. Nyoko peered into the living room again to check his status then whispered to her eating cat, "Do you think he's a match for Aya?"

Takahiro licked his whiskers in between bites and looked over at the sleeping jounin. Looking back at Nyoko he started purring loudly.

"Do you think they'll choose to love one another?" she whispered after he started eating again. This time the cat meowed softly his "I don't know."

"Hm," she buzzed softly before taking a thoughtful bite of egg. She soon forgot her contemplation of her sister and Kakashi and started pondering on Kiba. The interesting young man had been the first to challenge her in a weird way, and she was convinced that he was too charming for his own good. Unintentionally she shivered thinking about how he could read some of her thoughts and make her laugh and mad at the same time. Maybe they were too similar on the inside to match up well, but then, she didn't care much about opposites attracting. Her opposite would be way too boring for her to stand. She needed someone who was confident, but not arrogant; handsome, but not perfect; and wise, but not judgmental.

'It's not like I know that much about Kiba-kun…and I don't admit liking him like that…but he can be sweet when he wants to be. He also has the cutest grin'— she stopped herself before she got carried away.

"Takahiro, what do you think of Akamaru?" Takahiro puffed his fur up and growled menacingly. "That's what I thought…" she said heavily and gave him a reproachful eye.

Nyoko then heard the door to the bedroom open and saw Aya pad across the floor, stop at Kakashi's sleeping form, and keep walking toward the kitchen.

"Did you find everything alright?"

"Hai," Nyoko answered as she took another bite.

"This place is nicely stocked with food. I wonder who keeps it so freshly supplied," her older sister replied looking through the refrigerator. Making her own omelet, Ayaka wasn't as careful with being quiet.

Not surprising to Nyoko, Kakashi walked into the kitchen a little after Aya sat a plate down on the table. Ayaka smiled brightly and motioned for him to sit at the plate she set down.

'Did she plan that?' Nyoko thought as he obediently sat.

"Ohayou," he said to the two women and the cat. Ayaka answered accordingly and he made eye contact with Nyoko.

She smiled at him sweetly and they both looked down at Takahiro who meowed before purring loudly.

Nyoko did realize he had eaten by the time she looked back after putting her plate in the sink and washing it off. Her sister didn't seem to mind because she sat down, noticed the plate, and proceeded to salt her omelet. It was still strange to her that he covered his face from everyone all the time.

"You like?" Aya questioned Kakashi but when he looked up at her he didn't answer. "Ne?" He seemed to snap out of his thoughtful state soon after her question and answered with a couple "hai's" as he nodded and got up to wash his plate in the sink.

Nyoko tipped her head at Takahiro and they left the room closing the door to the bedroom behind them.

Ayaka lifted her brow in confusion before asking, "What's the matter, Kakashi?"

He had his back to her and was still rinsing his plate, "Aa…iie."

"Are you sure?"

"Hai…"

"Are we going to work from here now that someone is trying to hurt one of us or do we go work in the mansion under heavy guard?" she inquired getting away from the conversation topic that was going nowhere.

"At the mansion, it'll be easier to be on site for the job instead of transporting all the documents here."

"I see. How many people know we're being targeted?"

"Tsunade and twenty trusted special jounin, one including Kiba so that he could get his family's dogs on the hunt for whoever is trying to do this."

"Excellent, when do we leave for the mansion?"

"As soon as we're ready."

----------------------------------------

"We found them and they put up a nice fight. We had to defeat them otherwise they would have gotten away," the four were told when they came for their report from Tsunade.

"Who were they?" Kakashi asked trying to find out who was being targeted.

"The most information we got from them was that they wanted something the girls have. They didn't specify. Also, they had no markings from any country or criminal records."

"They couldn't have been that good, or that determined, if they didn't face us in person," Aya thought out loud.

"Good point," Shizune said from the right side of the desk.

"I'm just glad they're taken care of so I don't have to be looking over my shoulder all the time…" Nyoko whispered.

"You're sure they were all captured?" Kakashi questioned.

"Yes, one said how they should have had more men than just the two but his partner was too mad to make a reply," Tsunade said reading the report.

"Does that mean they will send more men in place of those we caught?"

"It could mean that, but we have doubled the men around Konoha and set up those who can dispel through techniques of concealment to check everyone who enters the gates. We are not taking any chances."

"We appreciate that Tsunade Hime," Ayaka stated from the right side of Kakashi.

"Does that mean I can go train while you work?" Nyoko inquired happily from her spot on Kakashi's left.

"Yes, but make sure you never leave Kiba's side in case something happens," Aya responded.

"Fine, oi, Kakashi, where could I find Kiba about now?"

Nyoko was feeling better about how the day looked now that things were safe, for the moment. Kakashi claimed he wasn't sure where he'd be by now but his sister would know. Getting the directions from Shizune, Nyoko and Takahiro bolted down the stairs and headed for Kiba's house.

Arriving within twenty minutes, they both approached the front door and Nyoko knocked politely. Takahiro sniffed the air and meowed to Nyoko.

"I know there are more than just dogs around here, silly, I'm told his sister is a vet."

Promptly the door opened and a tall young woman was wiping her hands on her apron. She had the same red fangs on her cheeks as Kiba so Nyoko guessed she was related.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked and spied Takahiro.

"My name is Nyoko and this is my cat Takahiro. I'm looking for Kiba, is he around by chance?"

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Hana. My little brother left early this morning and I'm not sure when he will return. Is there a message you would like to leave him?"

"Hm…" Nyoko remembered that Ino and Sakura were going to be at the flower shop this morning so she told Hana that if he came here to let him know she would be with Ino and Sakura.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the sunlit room, thin dust floated around the beams coming through the high windows. Ayaka took a panoramic view of the entire room from right to left hoping to see all the utensils she would need. Thankfully, she did in one scan, and headed for the large middle table. Many blueprints had already been dumped haphazardly onto the surface and depending on the layer, had a certain amount of dust piled thinly on top.

"Where do you want to start?" Kakashi inquired after testing the dust level of the bookshelf.

"First, I must clean and organize this mess or I will get nothing done around here."

Aya started gathering the blue scrolls, one by one, rolling and making a neat stack by the door. Kakashi followed suit by finding a container to put them in so that they wouldn't be swept into the dustbin. Aya cleaned the dust in minutes then organized the supply shelf and bookshelf within a half-hour. Meanwhile Kakashi ruffled through the blueprints finding the ones they were going to need right away to start the planning.

As they both sat down at the table, Ayaka cleared her space and laid out a blank scroll. Closing her eyes she placed the brush between both hands and made two unique signs that Kakashi had never seen. Aya opened her eyes, laid the tip of the brush onto the scroll and gradually an image appeared as though a ghost just drew the illustration. When she glanced up at him she thought his eye was going to pop out.

Aya laughed before commenting, "Are you just going to sit there and stare?"

"Did you just have to imagine it?"

"That's it in a nutshell." She shrugged not knowing what else to say.

"You are amazing," he commented, getting back to the scroll he was about to put in order.

Aya dared not to move. She had heard this before, plenty of times, but hearing that statement from him tugged at something she couldn't name. Under the table she pinched her leg and then continued her task, drawing up new blueprints for the expansion of Konoha.

After about four hours, the two sat back and looked at each other for the first time. Aya started stretching her arms and grinned sleepily. Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I have to admit something," Kakashi stated and he leaned onto his elbows, "I questioned Tsunade's choice to hire you to make these."

Ayaka cocked her head to the side, "Really? Why, because I'm from another village?"

"Mostly."

"What was the other part?"

"I didn't know you, what you stood for, or how you felt about right and wrong…"

"I understand…" she said lightly even though inside she was slightly hurt by his confession. It was natural to suspect someone you don't know, but she didn't comprehend what was making her heart hurt at his distrust.

Kakashi noticed her change in expression and knew something was wrong. Getting up he walked over to her and leaned against the table, "I trust you now," he said as he cuffed his thumbs on his pant loops. Seeing her look up at him and smile almost undid him but he remained expressionless.

"I'm glad you do, because I trust you, too…even though you hide a lot from me," Ayaka mentioned honestly.

"You mean my face?"

"Mostly," she grinned ironically.

"You don't want to see it…" he said gravely.

"Why not?" her question sounded almost whispered.

He got up from leaning and walked back to his seat but didn't sit down. All she could see was the covered side of his face and his left hand rested on the chair's backrest. It took everything within her not to let him know it was okay. She really did want to know what his face looked like –fully. When he didn't answer for a couple more minutes she got up slowly, walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his ribs before laying her head on his upper back. Ayaka could hear his heartbeat quicken but she only worried about the fact that she had made him hurt somehow.

"It's okay. You don't have to show me, I still trust you." She felt his hands cup hers and she felt led to say, "I respect you too much to make you do anything you don't want to." Her head moved slightly as he inhaled a measured, deep breath. Aya realized it had been too long for decency sake but she also knew she was very comfortable and happy in that position. When she tried to pull away he let his hands slide along her fingers until she was apart from him. Her heart picked up so fast she nearly gulped out loud. She wasn't sure what was happening but it probably wasn't the best thing for their future.

Kakashi hadn't moved much but when he turned back to her there was something hidden in the only eye of his she had ever looked into. "I think we should report back to Tsunade and let her know how much we got done."

Ayaka nodded but wasn't sure what to say so she stayed quiet…uncomfortably quiet. She put away the utensils she got off the shelves and they left when everything was where it should be.

------------------------------------------------

Tsunade was pleased with how much they had completed and she gave them a due date for the first draft of the North end of their new building project. Aya was delighted with that assignment and knew they would have it done in time with the progress they proved today.

Aya and Kakashi left the office of the Fourth and wondered down the stairs in silence. Her mind on other things, it surprised her when her stomach growled. Kakashi looked over to her and she blushed slightly. Thankfully she had eaten hearty that morning or she would have been hungry earlier than now.

"Let's find you something to feed that rumbling," he spoke without emotion. 'I must keep her at arms length or I will be drowning before I can prepare myself.'

Ayaka simply followed not caring where they went as long as she didn't do anything embarrassing again. Her mind kept replaying his detached reaction to her but she pushed it from her minds-eye long enough to remember why she was there. Falling for someone was not in the job assignment.

-------------------------------------------------

"Kiba, there you are!" Nyoko exclaimed from her seat next to Sakura. She had been waiting five hours for him to be done with a mission. Takahiro meowed and hopped over to Akamaru and they greeted more pleasantly than their first meeting – sniffing the other's nose.

"Sumimasen, I had to do more than I first thought, but you should be safer now," he stated scratching the back of his neck.

"Arigatou, would you like to join us?" Nyoko requested when Ino moved over to allow him room on the bench.

They ate a late lunch then Kiba and Nyoko headed for the training grounds.

"Thank you, Kakashi, for showing this place to me, it was great food."

"I'm glad you liked it, most of the fellow ninja I bring here like the dinners as well," was his first thought out loud and then they left the overhang to wander through the streets of Konoha.

"Has there been a favorite?" she inquired from his left side.

"No…" he answered before realizing she meant dish and not coworker. 'I'm glad to see she didn't think it was date…'

"Oh…so where are we tonight?"

"We can go back to where we were before, the threat is gone. Do you want to go get your things?"

"Hai, please," she replied and they headed back to the mountain.

While they entered the makeshift house she put away the breakfast dishes that had dried and then went into the bedroom to collect her and her sister's things. When she was almost done Kakashi entered the doorway and leaned in it. He had been done and didn't feel like waiting in the living room.

Looking up at him from the dresser she gave him a slight smirk that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm almost done."

"No rush," he said casually.

"True…"

After she zipped the pouch she started for the doorway but when she reached it Kakashi didn't move out of the way. Questioningly she gazed at him until he whispered something and she couldn't breathe.

"Nani?"

"I said I hope our mission doesn't take that long," he whispered a little louder.

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know how strong I am."

Ayaka was taken aback and wasn't sure what he was saying. After swallowing her next question she looked at the bag in her hand trying not to show any emotion. She was so confused about what was going on inside her and around her that her stomach twisted in tight knots. Kakashi finally backed away from the doorway and they left without a word to each other.

He departed toward the room above the bar and she entered the apartment building to go to his place. She was about to open the apartment door when the ninja from next door came into the hall and smiled at her. She nodded her greeting back but didn't say anything. Closing the door behind her she put her things away, then her sister's things.

'What a strange mission this has turned out to be…' she thought as she started opening her sketch pad and got her oil paints out. She spent the next couple hours painting the landscapes she passed that day that she had saved to memory.

When she was about to finish her fifth painting a knock sounded at the entrance. Forgetting that she had her painting apron on, she answered the door. Kakashi and Naruto were in the hallway and Naruto let her know about a couple paint stains on her arms and face.

Blushing, Aya went into the bathroom to wash off the smudges, meanwhile she could hear Naruto exclaiming over her artwork. She laughed to herself and hung the apron up in the closet before going back to them.

"These are amazing, Aya-sama! Are these from here in Konoha?"

"Hai, they are things I've seen on my stay here so far."

"Oi, look, it's the shed I made! It looks real cool on here, too!"

"These are so well done they look like portals straight to the place," Kakashi said absentmindedly from his stance behind Naruto.

"Arigatou, I try to make them artistically similar to what I see yet still have a sense of me in there…" Aya responded with a wistful smile.

"A sense of you in there?" Naruto requested for her to explain.

"Every artist has a particular style that is unique to only them; I call it having a sense of the artist in the work."

"Oi, does that apply to jutsu's too?"

"I suppose it can, considering that each person has their own techniques that not many others do…"

"Except Kakashi-senpai, right?" The two looked over at him but he was still looking at the paintings.

"I suppose so…what is it he does exactly?"

"He is known as the Copy Ninja, he uses his Sharingan to copy other ninja's techniques."

"Oh? I've never seen him with the Sharingan…" she commented, trying to put where she had heard of the Copy Ninja before.

"It's in the eye that he covers," Naruto replied facing a painting that had people in it. "Oi, Aya-sama, could you paint me?" he asked excitedly but she was now staring at Kakashi and didn't hear Naruto.

"The exploding note and the box; so that's how you knew they were there. You have Sharingan?" Aya inquired of Kakashi and he looked over to her, "Are you an Uchiha?"

"No," he answered the last question without explanation.

"Then why—

"Naruto, was there a reason you asked me to come up here with you?" His interruption made Aya and Naruto step back.

"Uh, I don't remember," he answered truthfully then watched as Kakashi walked lazily out the door without another word. "Uh, I'm sorry Aya-sama…"

Holding back heated words she patted him on the head, "Don't worry about it, Fish-cake, it's been a long day for the both of us. I think I'm going to go to bed early, would you mind letting Nyoko know?"

"Sure, where would I find her?"

"She should be with Kiba on the training field."

"Right, see ya!" he exclaimed and left.

Ayaka's face dropped now that she didn't have to pretend in front of anyone. 'Maybe Naruto shouldn't have told me…but how could Kakashi have the Sharingan eye if he isn't from the Uchiha clan? And why would he act so peculiar about it?'

After getting ready for bed she realized those questions didn't matter as much as the one thing she really wanted to ask him, 'Why don't you trust me?'

---------------------------------------------------

"That was a great technique, for a cat owner," Kiba landed on the ground with his legs spread apart and Akamaru turned back into his normal size when he came down to the earth.

"Thanks, I think," Nyoko said rolling her eyes at his mixed comment.

"Really, I'm glad I could sharpen the direction of it too by throwing that dagger into the mix."

"I didn't believe it would but that was a good idea. I'm just mad that you were being so easy on me in the beginning."

"Let's just say I wasn't sure how much you could take," he twisted his sweater around in his hands so he could put it back on over his shirt.

"So…you were testing me?" Nyoko inquired knowing he wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Precisely," Kiba answered like it was the most natural comment ever.

"What point in time did you realize I wasn't as fragile as normal girls?"

"When you turned your chakra into a four-headed panther and came after Akamaru and I," he rubbed his arm from a scratch she had given him.

"Oh! Kiba, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize I—

"It's alright," he interjected with a smile but she came up to him and tore some cloth from her skirt and wrapped it around the wound.

"Maybe it was a good thing you ripped my skirt or I would have gotten this from your shirt," they laughed but then stopped when Kiba leaned his forehead toward her face and their metal protector plates clinked.

"Gomen…" he whispered playfully and she could feel his breath on her face.

"It's okay…" she responded quietly.

Surprising them, Akamaru barked and they separated just in time because Naruto came over the hill calling their names.

"Nyoko, I have to tell you something!"

------------------------------------------------------

"Chigau!" Nyoko exclaimed as she and Kiba stared at Naruto.

"What do you mean he was rude and walked out?" Kiba asked defensively and Akamaru barked.

"Just what I said, Kakashi made a rude comment to me and walked out without another word to Aya-sama…I think she was about to cry." He was so worried about her and it surprised Nyoko that he was even able to read into her that way.

"I should go see how she's doing then…"

"I'll go with you," Kiba responded quickly and the two ninja's were off to the apartment in a flash.

Reaching the top landing and stopping before entering, Nyoko quieted Kiba and the two animals with her finger before opening the bedroom door. The room was dark but the light from behind them illuminated the bed and her sister's sleeping form. Nyoko crept in a couple steps then nodded for Takahiro to go ahead of her. The cat climbed onto the window sill above Ayaka's head and peered into her face. Taka looked up at Nyoko and swished his tail. She proceeded then examined her sister's face. There were trails of tears left on her temple and damp stains on the pillow. Growing mad Nyoko motioned for them all to leave. Shutting the door behind her she steamed for a couple seconds.

"What is it Nyoko?" Kiba inquired quietly.

"She must have taken offense to what he said because she was crying before she fell asleep. I'm going to have a talk with him," she started for the front door but Kiba stopped her.

"But you don't know what all happened or what was said," Akamaru agreed by waging his tail, "you can't confront someone without any background."

"Then maybe he could _elaborate_ for me," she stated and accentuated her point by extracting a kaikan from under her clothing. Kiba's eyes grew wide then grabbed her hand before she moved.

"Nyoko, now think this through. I'm pretty sure your sister can take care of herself."

Nyoko fumed but knew he was right, "What am I to do, sit and watch her get hurt?"

"Let them figure it out, they have to work together until they're done with the buildings so wait until they're finished before you interfere."

Nyoko rolled her eyes but didn't attempt to move.

"Promise you won't interfere?" Kiba searched.

"Haaaaaiii…" she slightly whined and put her small sword away when he let go of her hand.

They both stood there and minute by minute, as the silence continued, they slowly started to smile. She walked him to the hallway and he exited with Akamaru trailing him.

"Hate to admit it, but I had fun today," he commented, turning back to her.

"Hai, me too," Nyoko responded without looking at him.

"Well, maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

"We'll see…" she responded and vanished behind the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The moon drifted high in the western sky, making him feel even smaller for the way he acted. 'The moon doesn't even want to be close to me tonight…I don't blame it.' Kakashi tossed the stick he had been pealing and leaned against the tree trunk. He wasn't pleased with himself. Sighing loudly didn't make him feel better either.

'I didn't mean to be harsh, but she has to understand that my past is something I want to forget, not tell everyone who asks…' His mind replayed the expression on Aya's face when he didn't answer her soft questions. 'Ugghhh,' he thought as he held his head in his hands. 'This isn't like me. I'm never confused for this long. Since when did a woman's presence affect me like this? Why do her green eyes haunt me hours after I've left them?'

Nothing was helping so he decided to go to the rented room for a couple hours of slumber. When he entered the room he knew someone was there but he wasn't set on alert. Flipping on the light proved he was right, and seeing that it was Kiba, he walked in with his expression neutral and somewhat questioning.

"Bad day?" Kiba asked.

"You're here to ask about my day?"

"I heard that you were rude to Ayaka-sama and I came to find out what happened."

"Why?"

"It's for a friend," Kiba affirmed, not trying to imply anything.

"I see," Kakashi knew that Nyoko must have put up a fight if Kiba was here at this late hour and asking about Ayaka, "I don't know what happened, to tell you the truth. She wants to know what I hide behind my mask and asks about my past…"

"What's so bad about letting her know?"

"You wouldn't understand," he replied taking off his green Konoha vest and hanging it up.

"Try me; I think I can comprehend a little more than you believe."

"Listen, I don't want anyone knowing my past. I don't want to relive it."

"Out of anyone I know, you were the last person I expected to be scared of this."

"If you knew what I went through you wouldn't be criticizing me…"

Kiba shook his head and walked to the door, "I wasn't talking about your past I was referring to taking on the future." He then left the apartment leaving a confused, yet thoughtful, jounin.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

By the time Ayaka woke up she had forty minutes to get ready before she had to meet Kakashi out front. She awoke with a start because she thought he was near her but then she remembered his pillow smelled just like him. Pushing it away from her she got ready with four minutes to spare. When she started for the stairs she knew she had to be firm, she had to avoid him, -and finally- she had to be civil.

'Don't be immature, don't be…' nothing was working because she was hurt. Inside her there was something just gnawing at her to really be mean to him for treating her the way he did.

'Kill him with kindness…' she plastered on a friendly face and waited. Of course he was late which made her seethe but she put that away too.

"Ohayou," he said as he strolled over from the bar's building.

"Ohayou," she replied back to him then turned and walked in the direction of their destination. She watched as his shadow came up beside hers but he didn't try to start any conversation. 'Thank goodness…' she thought halfheartedly.

'She might not admit it but she's mad…I can tell. Why is she hiding it?' He ignored the irony in his thought.

When they were walking up the stairs to the room where they were working for the mission Ayaka had a sudden realization. Not wanting to forget it she tried to form a way to make it sound okay when she decided to voice it out loud.

"Kakashi?" she asked without looking at him but knew when he was waiting for her to continue, "I hope you don't think that I was trying to get you to 'like' me yesterday…"

"Nani?"

"I…I didn't even realize it but I shouldn't have hugged you. I'm sorry if I confused you…I guess I was just expre—

"Its okay, Ayaka. I understand." He didn't look back at her when he opened the door and entered after her.

'Again with the confusing attitude. Maybe I didn't know him like I thought when we spent the first day together…but I can't believe he's a mean person all the time.' However she didn't know what else to think anymore. 'Wait a minute, since when did I care what someone thought of me? If he's mad at me then I can't help that when I didn't do anything wrong…'

The day dragged on with not so much as a peep from either one, and they both hated it.

When lunch rolled around they were brought food, some pork ramen and rolls. They sent their thanks to Shizune and when another three hours passed without conversation Aya thought she was going to scream. Kakashi thought he was going to slice the table in half with one of his jutsus.

"Talk to me," Kakashi said first. Aya looked up rapidly and wasn't sure what to say.

"I…"

"Did you sleep well last night?" He blurted out the first thing he thought of but in his gentle way.

"Hai. You?" she asked hesitantly.

"When I finally laid down, I did."

"Oh? What time was that?" Ayaka placed her brush down on the table and noticed for the first time the dark hue under his eye.

"Around five…"

"What made you stay up so late?" she questioned, concerned.

"You…"

Aya's eyes got big at his confession, "Me?"

"I can't tell you my past Aya."

"Because you don't trust me?" she more said than asked.

"Because I don't want to experience it again, I've never told anyone and I never want to. My mask hides what was once a reminder."

"No matter if you tell me or keep it to yourself, you will always relive it if you don't let someone else bare the pain of knowing what happened. I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you are ever ready to let it go." She calmly got up and left, leaving him in stunned silence.

----------------------------------------------

Kiba and Nyoko ran through the treetops finding ways to stretch the other's abilities. Nyoko would pitch these new weapons that looked like two blades back-to-back but in the middle –where you held them- there was a ball with holes all over it. Kiba had never seen them before and it took him a while before he realized they tracked him down because of his scent. Taking extra precautions he disguised himself and the scent trackers were thrown off.

Kiba was able to find Nyoko's weak spot: she would forget things he had left prior in the game. Nyoko fell for three traps, which she had seen him hurl at her earlier in the training.

Together they landed on the ground near the base of a tree and their pets panted as they landed beside their owners.

"I can't believe I forgot about those traps!" Nyoko exclaimed in good humor and wiped her forehead.

"Well, I did toss them about two hours ago," Kiba said trying to make her feel better but she shook her head.

"I've got to work on my memory skills," Nyoko stated and found her water canteen.

"That's why we're here," Kiba replied and placed his hands on his hips.

"Wipe that smirk off of your face, I almost had you," she replied back to him trying to hide her grin.

"I don't know, I still think I could have beaten you," Kiba shrugged.

"Sure you would have," Nyoko said sarcastically.

"Oi, if I can ace my older sister in training, I can ace you," he responded and winked at Akamaru. His dog barked back a positive answer.

Nyoko's right eye-brow arched and she crossed her arms across her chest.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"That's funny you should be so confident when we aren't even finished," Nyoko said, then before Kiba or Akamaru could respond, a huge ball of thread had them wrapped in milliseconds.

"Oi! What is _this_?!"

"Something I've been saving…it's a ball of thread that Takahiro plays with when he's in his bigger form." Kiba looked over and Takahiro's tail was swishing back and forth and he looked as though he was going to pounce on him.

"Don't even think about it, Taka," Kiba warned but the cat crouched down and his rear went slightly up in an arch.

Nyoko laughed at the facial expression on the other two but placed her hand on the cat's head to tell him not to pounce.

"You're sneaky," Kiba said as he tried to get untangled.

"I couldn't let you get away with that kind of talk," she answered and walked up to him.

"Ok, ok, I get the point, now let me out of this," he replied when he found out that the more he moved the tighter it got on him.

"Be patient," she responded and drew her small knife.

After getting the man and the beast untangled all four cleaned up at the river and headed for town.

"So, I've been wondering something…but I'm worried about your answer," Nyoko said from beside Kiba. He looked over at her and frowned slightly.

"Oh?"

"I suppose I shouldn't fret over it…"

"Just ask," Kiba stated with a smile.

After a pause Nyoko nodded once, "Okay…why do you have those red fang-like marks on your cheeks?"

"It's something my clan has had for generations, or so my mom says," Kiba shrugged.

"I met your sister the other day and I noticed she had them too," Nyoko prompted.

"You met Hana?"

"Hai, at first I thought it was your mom because I've never met her and I didn't know what to expect. Your sister is really nice."

"You think so?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Hai, she reminded me of Ayaka."

"I guess…" he stated with uncertainty in his tone but Kiba laughed when Nyoko gave him a look. "Just so you know, your sister is a lot nicer…and you probably don't want to meet my mom."

"Why do you say that?"

"She's not like most moms." Kiba didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it but he eventually admitted that she was harsh on him as a kid.

"Looking back, do you think you learned more character from her being harsh on you?"

Thinking for a couple minutes he gave her a side look, "I suppose I did…I wouldn't have bonded so strongly with Akamaru if she didn't force the ownership." He glanced at his massive dog, "Now I don't know what I'd do without him." The dog licked his owner's hand with assurance that he wouldn't want anyone else to own him.

"I know exactly what you mean," Nyoko replied softly to both of them as Takahiro hoped onto her shoulders and licked her cheek.

"Come on, let's go get some lunch," Kiba suggested as he spotted a restaurant.

-------------------------------------------------------

The next couple days went smoothly, as far as stuffy conversations went, Ayaka assumed. Each held back a lot considering they couldn't agree on the subject because it always led to either his past or her ideas of relationships.

Aya tended to get over zealous about that topic so she avoided it as much as possible so that guys wouldn't be aware of her insights and opinions. She tried to ignore the topic mostly because the males started liking her after they found out her views. She was a traditional thinker in the way that she thought that men were to be masculine, protectors and the ones to make the first move. She also believed that the inside was a bigger factor to concern oneself with than the outside, mostly because attractiveness faded in time.

'Someone doesn't change just because you will them to…I learned that the hard way…' Personality was an issue for her as well; if he couldn't laugh and express other natural feelings then she worried about his psychological health.

'Too much to talk about with someone I barely know…' And that was another subject – if you don't know the person in and out and love them for who they truly are, not what they _could be_, than it would never work out and both would end up hurt.

"Aya-sama?" a voice behind her called, "Are you in there?"

Ayaka got out of her chair and glanced at Kakashi's raised eye before answering the door. Naruto appeared behind the door holding three bags.

"Uh," Naruto held out the bags for her to take, "here!"

"Arigatou, Naruto. What is this?"

"Lunch for you and Kakashi-senpai, it's the world's best ramen," he said through his large smile.

"Would you like to join us?" she requested after a small, friendly laugh escaped her.

"Don't mind if I do, I got a lot just in case," Naruto replied, missing Ayaka's knowing smile.

Kakashi saw the motherly kindness beam down out of Aya's eyes at the blonde ninja and wished he knew how she could show that without hesitation. Kakashi was then hit with the realization that Ayaka saw things very clearly and took them in strides. Little, if nothing, got past her…maybe it was her feline genetics…but whatever it was made him become aware that she was very intelligent. She was intelligent for holding her tongue and for allowing people the freedom to be themselves. 'Maybe she can be trusted…'

"We appreciate your thoughtfulness, Fish-cake," Aya said as she laid out the food before them.

"I heard Baa-chan telling one of her messengers to get you two lunches and I convinced her I would do a better job. She also paid for it!" he was so overjoyed he almost forgot to say "**Itadakimasu!"**

"Oi, Naruto, have you seen my sister around town today?"

"Hai, earlier but not since then…is she and Kiba 'getting close' like you two are?" Kakashi and Aya promptly looked at each other then away. Naruto laughed at Aya's flushed cheeks at first but Kakashi firmly placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We are working on a project assigned by Tsunade Hime. Nothing more," Kakashi explained in his simple, no-argument, tone.

"Precisely," Ayaka stated, backing him up almost right away. Her heart fluttered restlessly and she clutched her hands on her lap to still her nervous twitching that started when her embarrassment had turned into blushing. 'This can't be a guilty reaction can it? Do I truly have some type of affection growing toward someone who won't open up to me?'

"Nothing more?" Naruto asked, taken aback, "what about all this time you've spent together?"

"What about it?" Ayaka inquired defensively.

"You've spent many countless hours, even days, with other girls from the teams when sent out on missions, why would this be any different?" Kakashi asked him wondering if he was loosing his touch at hiding his feelings…maybe he had slipped somewhere showing some affection unintentionally. He was still confused by it all, one minute he was lost in her voice, the next he was drowning swiftly in her eyes. Sometimes the soft and natural touch of her hand would make him forget about his resolve to keep away from her.

"I don't know, because you two would be good together?" Naruto picked up his empty bowl and sticks to throw them out and completely missed the searching look that was exchanged between Kakashi and Ayaka.

Within five minutes Naruto left and it was quiet in the room again.

Aya listened to every movement but feared to look up. She had to focus on the blueprints. When she accidentally dropped her brush in her attempt to get back to drawing it rolled across the table in a circular fashion. Slightly self-conscious she reached for it but Kakashi's hand grabbed her wrist.

Firmly yet gently he held her arm there and waited for her eyes to meet his. Her eyes glided from his gloved hand, up his sleeve, and across his shoulder to his face. As soon as she looked into his eye, she noticed his attempt to apologize, and slid his hand from her wrist into her hand.

"Sumimasen, Aya-sama…" Kakashi barely whispered.

She gulped silently, "For what, Kakashi?" Knowing why wasn't the reason she asked, she wanted him to know she had already forgiven him.

He gazed at their joined hands as if the answer was written there.

"For not being as hospitable as I could be," he finally stated, "Maybe someone else more suitable should escort you around…someone with the ability to open up and be fun."

Aya was surprised at his confession and took it to heart, "Kakashi, you have been great, really. Don't be so hard on yourself," she replied giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I can't..."

"Nani?" she questioned softly.

"I can't do this anymore," he said letting go of her hand, getting up and walking to the door.

"Matte, Kakashi," she stood up and walked closer to him, "what did I say?"

"I think someone else would be more suited for this than I," he stated and left.

Standing still for almost ten minutes, Ayaka snapped out of her confusion and cleaned up. 'Why is he acting like this? Why can't he just explain himself to me?' Getting more and more frustrated by Kakashi's inability to communicate she stormed out of the office and headed for Tsunade.

"Ayaka, it seems that you have put someone in a very confused state. What have you to say for yourself?" Tsunade interrogated Ayaka firmly with her hands folded in front of her mouth and leaning on her desk.

"So he was just here, was he?" Aya sighed in return.

"He was in here asking to be reassigned. That isn't like Kakashi at all. What happened?" Shizune inquired before Tsunade could.

"I'm not even sure, one minute Naruto was teasing us about getting along then he started apologizing and…I'm not sure what is going on."

"Clearly, you have bewitched him," Tsunade said a little too happy for Ayaka's taste.

"But I didn't _do_ anything," Aya defensively thought out loud.

"Sometimes, you don't have to. Who you are is sometimes just enough to make them fall for you," Shizune replied from her corner and Tonton made a little 'pooing' noise.

"So, are you going to assign someone else, then?" Ayaka posed her question toward Tsunade.

"I don't usually, but I think I will. You'll have your new escort tomorrow," Tsunade said to the surprise of the other two women.

"Arigatou…" Aya replied but inside she wasn't too happy about the meeting's outcome. 'Maybe this can simply blow over and my new helper will be less distracting…'

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Kiba was surprised at how much he and Nyoko talked about, and for how long. They sat in the booth at the restaurant for six hours before the waitress asked them to leave so that other customers could have a chance to eat. They laughed at their absentmindedness and decided to hop around town and see what innocent mischief they could find for themselves.

Nyoko wasn't about to admit she was starting to like Kiba on more than friend terms so she pushed the thoughts out of her head. For now, friendship was enough and she didn't want the fun to end.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'Oh dear me…' Ayaka thought as she peered over at her new companion sitting across the table from her. She had arrived that morning less refreshed than she had hoped.

Inside the meeting room had been a man she never thought would be assigned to her…the Great Beast…or something like that. The bowl-cut-haired, bushy eye-browed man couldn't stop talking, no matter the topic, and his suit just made looking at him uncomfortable.

"So, Gai-sensei, tell me, what is your opinion of Kakashi?" she asked trying to change the subject because he had been explaining a rather tedious way of training while asleep.

"Why, he is my fiercest rival, I have beaten him 50 times and he has only won 49 times," he grinned and flipped his thump up at her.

"Beat him?" she asked very interested.

"We have an ongoing contest of many kinds of battles, all to test the skill of the other."

"Oh, well, how long has this been going on?"

"When we were younger youths than now," he went on to explain it but she was stuck on his phrase 'younger youths than now'.

'He must be at least thirty years old…' she thought to herself.

"Ah, but even though he has that Sharingan I have been able to find a way around him using it on me," Gai said proudly to her.

Giving her attention back in the interest of his statement she was about to ask if he would give the background of how Kakashi got it when she stopped herself. It wasn't her place, if Kakashi didn't want her to know then she wasn't going to pry it out of someone else.

"He has improved it greatly since he got it. Training hasn't stopped for any of us when it comes to Konoha."

'Since he got it…?' "Well, Gai, I respect everyone here for always trying their best. I believe it to be a great trait for a whole village to have." She was serious in her comment but she was trying not to laugh at the funny man before her. He was _so_ dramatic.

"You have a very tender heart for a female ninja with your skills, how do you do it?"

"Nani?" Aya was bewildered at his hyped statement.

"How do you balance your tenderness and your ninja skills so effortlessly?"

He had gotten a glisten in his eye and was not about to drop the issue by the likes of things. Her stuttering was barely a moment as she tried to think fast for a logical answer.

"Actually, I believe I learned it from my parents," she finally concluded not knowing what else to say.

"Ah, parenthood, such an amazing adventure, wouldn't you say?" he asked and he leaned toward her. His bushy eyebrows wagged up and down a couple times making her feel awkward. She unconsciously backed up in her chair.

"Hai, Gai…" But when she answered him, a shadow enveloped the doorway and it caught her attention.

"Kakashi!" Gai exclaimed staying where he was and grinned at the figure.

"What are you doing here?" Ayaka requested from him politely.

"I left something of mine here yesterday," he replied without moving from the doorway.

"Oh," Aya said turning back to her new special jounin and wishing she didn't feel so uncomfortable.

"Well, as I was saying," Gai continued as Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked slowly toward the seat he sat in the day before, "parenthood is something I think I would do very well at, how about yourself, Ayaka-sama?"

Not paying much attention to the blueprints that she was drawing on she saw from the corner of her eye Kakashi turn slightly so that he could see her reaction. She smiled widely at Gai and nodded.

"I adore kids, so yes; I suppose I would enjoy being a mother some day," both men were looking at her and she lost her eye contact with them out of bashfulness.

"Ayaka-sama, I don't want to be too bold but would…" Gai cleared his throat dramatically, "would you like to have a picnic with me tomorrow?"

No one moved for what seemed like an hour.

"Um, Gai, I actually…" she glanced at the stare that Kakashi was giving her and she decided why not, if he wasn't going to ask her she wasn't going to sit around a wait…even though Gai really wasn't her type. It would still be fun just as friends.

"I make an amazing picnic s—

"Sure, why not, when would you like to go?" she asked him.

Just then Kakashi interrupted Gai's answer, "Aya, may I speak with you a minute outside?" but before she could answer, he grabbed her elbow and escorted her out of the room almost levitating her off the ground.

"What is the meaning of this, Kakashi?" she questioned sternly when they reached the back garden area of the building.

"Why would you agree to that?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"How could you be willing to go on a date with him?"

"Gai happens to be very sweet and he actually talks to me, thank you very much. Why should you care, you were the one to ask for a reassignment, remember?" Aya stated firmly pinning him with a look.

"Gai may be able to talk to you but he also has too much to say. Do you get a word in edge wise?"

"Don't answer me with a question, just answer me why this is a conversation we are having." She wasn't about to back down and he appeared to be as angry with her as she was with him.

"I can't explain it…" he mumbled heatedly after a couple moments.

"Why? Do you think I'm too dense in the head to understand?"

"No, not at all, it's just that…" he argued back to reassure her.

"What Kakashi? I want to understand, I really do. Explain to me what is on your mind."

Then, before she could open her eyes from a blink, the side of her face was pressed against his chest and his arms were wrapped around her. He held her stable and secure without so much as a breath between them. Instinctively she encircled him around the waist and slowly raised her hands up to his upper back, in between his shoulder blades, while keeping her elbows low. Her thoughts were in such a muddle that she clung to him without question.

Kakashi wasn't sure why he had pulled her in, but he was glad he did. If he wasn't able to voice what he was thinking maybe he could show her. There was so much about him that he kept hidden and safe, how could he protect himself if he let someone in?

"Ayaka-sama?" he whispered into her shiny hair.

"Hm?" she hummed into his masculine-smelling green vest.

"I'm not good with emotions...and I don't want to confuse you," he tried but he still couldn't voice what he was thinking.

"I'm not asking for a poem or a novel, Kakashi. Just tell me what you're thinking."

"I…"

"Aya-sama! Aya?" Gai had come outside but he was in the front of the building looking for her.

Not wanting to get caught like that, she stepped back a step. Aya held her hands on the chest of Kakashi's vest before he covered her hands with his. It was so endearing that she couldn't budge. His gloves felt soft compared to his fingers but she liked the contrast. Self-consciously she looked up to see his eye watching her closely and yet it wasn't judgmental, just searching.

Gai came around the side of the building and walked toward them.

"Are you coming back inside to work, Aya-sama?"

"I'll be there in a minute…" she said as she let her hands slide down Kakashi's vest and out of his reach. She followed Gai inside but before she turned the corner of the building she glanced back and made eye contact with Kakashi.

'Just one more thing for Gai and me to fight about…' Kakashi thought ironically before it hit him what he was implying.

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"So have I met everybody now that I've met Ten-Ten, Neji, Hinata, and Shino?"

"That about wraps them up," Kiba answered from beside her.

The two had stayed after the other four Konoha ninja left the training grounds for lunch. Nyoko's braid slapped her back as she plopped onto the root of the tree Kiba had decided to lean his back against.

"Training is much more fun with ninja my own age. My sister teaches me a lot but it's different because I already know all of her techniques."

"Part of the fun is finding your opponents tricks," Kiba agreed.

"Exactly," she smiled and wiped her brow underneath the forehead protector.

Kiba watched her for a moment and then quickly looked away.

"Nani?" Nyoko questioned with a smirk.

"Nothing…" he stated and slid down the tree trunk to sit on the ground.

"Come on Kiba-kun."

"It's nothing…" he replied with a ghost of a smile.

"Don't make me beat it out of you," she teased from her perch beside him.

"Like you could," he challenged and relaxed his legs out in front of him.

"You don't think I could?"

"You're good, but you aren't _that_ good," Kiba assured in confidence.

"In battle…or just getting something out of you?"

"What kind of question is **that**?!"

Nyoko laughed and held onto his shoulder for support so she wouldn't fall off of the root.

"You can be so funny sometimes," they stated at the same time.

Catching each other's glances gave them a moment of pause but Nyoko recovered, got on her knees in front of him and pulled his forehead protector off of his head. Before Kiba knew what was going on, Nyoko planted a kiss on his forehead and then disappeared into the tree with his village emblem.

"Hey!" he got up and sped after her.

They dodged through the forest, and then she tried to loose him by going through town. Nothing was getting him off her trail so, about a half hour into the chase, she escaped into the women's bathing house for a break.

Outside the front doors she could hear Kiba yelling for her to come out. She giggled from inside and waved it at him from down the hall where he could see the sun shining through the back of the bathing pool. Her outline was all he could make out so he quickly tried to think of a way he could get to her.

Knowing he couldn't come into the place, Nyoko felt safe, but when she heard a noise above her on the roof tiles, she knew where he had gone.

"That persistent beast…" she murmured but then something snapped and crashed behind her. She spun around to see Kiba covered in dust, wood pieces and ceramic bits. She covered her mouth not knowing if she was going to laugh or scream.

"I heard that," Kiba declared, trying to get up and shake off the dirt.

Women started showing up and pushing Kiba out the door as he desperately tried to explain that he was there to get his badge back.

Kiba's mother appeared and started yelling at him for the way he ruined the roof and for interrupting the relaxed atmosphere. She scolded him and let him know that she was having him pay for the restorations before the day was over. Nyoko watched as his mother walked back in and slammed the door behind her.

Nyoko walked up to him and stretched out her hand to finally give up the badge.

Kiba looked down at it and snatched it from her. She slightly jumped at his reaction. Akamaru whined at his master's state and Kiba glared at him to be quiet.

"Kiba, are you alright?" Nyoko asked seeing some cuts in his jacket.

"I'm fine."

"But you might have gotten hurt," she said reaching for a scratch that had started bleeding. Kiba pulled away from her grasp and stuffed the forehead protector in his pocket.

"I said 'I'm fine'." Kiba didn't say goodbye before vanishing from the street and leaving Nyoko stunned at his departure.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The past three days with Gai had been the most amusing and annoying days Ayaka had ever spent with anyone. How someone could talk about the same things in different ways every time was beyond her. The man had a strange talent. He also favored one of his teammates to the other two and Aya questioned how wise that was. Regardless it was sweet in a roundabout way.

"So how are those papers coming?" Ayaka asked Gai when he was pausing to take a breath.

"Oh, gomen, here you are," he replied giving her the papers she needed from him. "I was not aware you were ready for them."

"It's alright…" she quickly finished what she was working on and suddenly something tugged on her heart. She looked up and Gai was writing something down. Something was wrong.

"Excuse me Gai, I need to go," she stated before rushing out the door. 'Something isn't right. Nyoko, tell me where you are,' she thought as she sped over the rooftops to the place her sister said she was going to be that evening.

As she approached the woods near the training grounds she could hear murmured meowing and a rustling leading toward the northern gates into Konoha. She could smell her sister's scent and Takahiro's but they were faint. Following the sound she finally caught up with three men, a woman, and her sister.

"Nyoko!" Aya exclaimed before three weapons were flung toward her. She dodged them just in time then she got out her paint brush and was ready to do some major damage to these people holding her sister and cat hostage.

"Who are you?!" she hollered as more weapons came at her. She repelled them all easily and flung some of her own.

"We aren't about to explain to _you_ who we are," one of the men sneered. He yelled a command and the group disappeared with Nyoko and Takahiro.

"You aren't getting away that easily, you scumbag," she gritted and was on their tail within seconds. She got ahead of them and drew an illusion in an effort to keep them in Konoha but they went through it eventually and the woman was able to slice through the illusion like it was a blade of grass.

Jumping up at her, Ayaka painted her sword and -still in the air- grabbed its handle before ramming it into the female captor. Screams echoed through her ears until she was able to discard the body in a painted coffin to hold the woman in until Aya got her sister back.

The men of the group didn't react much to loosing the female and it sparked more anger inside Ayaka as she went after them in flashes of color. The men got confused by her random hits that she was able to get on them through her color splotches.

One man, the one holding an unconscious Takahiro, grabbed out just when Aya popped through her green splotch to hit him and was pulled out before she knew it. He roughly threw her against a tree trunk and pinned her down with his tar that spit out of his fingertips. The tar was hot and it quickly hardened before she was able to get out of it.

Knowing her feet were stuck was just an annoyance but she had replaced her right hand's tar for paint in the last second and without his knowing. Smiling at him she painted a dagger and, using chakra to enhance it, sliced through the chakra-filled tar. To his surprise, she had known without even flinching.

"What is this little one to you?" the man holding Nyoko asked her.

"She is very close to me, and you _will_ be giving her back." Ayaka made it clear she was focused on getting the unconscious girl to safety and didn't want to put either one in danger by telling them that they were related.

The battle went on, each figuring out more and more about the other but for the most part Aya was winning despite the many injuries she was receiving. She had taken out the other man, the shortest one that wasn't holding onto cat or girl. Ayaka was having a hard time breathing but she wasn't about to give up. Wishing there was some way to get word to Kakashi or Kiba she continued to fight the two left.

Her sword was knocked out of her grasp and she dodged a major blow but it caused her to jump into a nearby tree. She skid across the tree branch as curled shreds of wood came up from around her shoes. Trying to calm her anger so that she wouldn't make a terrible mistake, Aya took a deep breath. She painted another sword and lunged out.

Taking a hard hit by the taller enemy made her fall into a grouping of dense trees. Thankfully heredity was on her side and she landed on her feet and hands without injury but on the way down she got pretty scratched up and her left leg was bleeding profusely from a big gash across her upper thigh. Ripping her jacket she made a quick wrap to stop the bleeding.

Ayaka shimmied up the trees back to the area she had left them but they were gone. Following close behind, she found them three miles outside of Konoha's walls. She engaged in more fighting and when she thought she wasn't going to make another hit she killed the one holding Takahiro. The hideous man carrying Nyoko on his back snatched the limp cat and summoned a smoke cloud that had a face to it.

With all that was left in her she threw her dagger at him but he had disappeared into the cloud and vanished from sight. Her tears streaked her face as her vision blurred and she gave into the darkness that was threatening her consciousness.

----------------------------------------------------------

When Ayaka was found she had been face down in the dust reaching away from the area where a coffined dead ninja was laying. It was early morning on the first round's watch. A jounin had spotted her from his perch on the wall. Tsunade was notified immediately and Kakashi was summoned to the hospital before he had heard what had happened.

"Send him in, Shizune," Tsunade called from her wash basin.

The hospital room was for surgeries but this was the only room that Tsunade could stitch up Ayaka's leg without anyone infecting it more than it was.

Kakashi entered and immediately saw Aya's cataleptic body on the table. He appeared before her but Tsunade held him back from touching her. He searched Tsunade's face for an explanation.

"Nyoko has been kidnapped and Ayaka fought those who stole her. One got away, as far as we know Aya killed three out of the four. She did a hell of a job, too. It will be a while before she will be able to walk and she needs to refrain from using much of her arms for a couple weeks. I need you to watch over her and take care of her until we have her sister back. I don't want her following after them again."

"I understand," Kakashi agreed then looked down at Aya's peaceful face. "Is she going to…?" his voice was grim and he hid the concern that was overflowing his insides.

"If you help her and keep her from going after Nyoko, she will be okay."

"Will they be after her as well?"

"We don't have enough information on that yet…" she turned back to Ayaka's leg, "she hasn't awoken long enough to tell us what all she knows."

"I see."

"I will see to it that you have anything you need medically and any men that can help watch over her when you need time—

"I'll be fine. When can she be moved?"

"As soon as I revive the rest of her chakra. Are you sure you won't need anyone else to help you take care of her, I can send Gai—

"No. I can do it," he answered firmly, "Who is going on the mission to find Nyoko?"

"I'm planning on sending Naruto, Shino, Rock Lee and Neji."

"I'll be waiting outside," he nodded and left the room. He wasn't able to make it clear to himself that she was only sleeping. If he couldn't touch her he had to leave the room.

Going into the bathroom he removed his mask, filled his hands with water and splashed his face to try and erase the image of her lying there. Kakashi couldn't control his heart rate, which was unusual for him, and he couldn't find it in him to stand still. Pacing the bathroom didn't work so he went back into the hallway. The hallway was long, thankfully, so he did the length of the hall many times for about two hours. When it was almost six in the evening he was ready to walk in there and yell at Tsunade for taking so long.

"Is something wrong in there?" he asked of Shizune when she exited the hospital room.

Wiping the worried look off of her face she shook her head, "Don't worry, Kakashi, Ayaka's in good hands…" then she walked around him and departed down the other hallway.

'Don't worry she says…easy for you to say, you aren't in love...' he stopped himself in mid-thought. 'It can't be…'

The door slid open and Tsunade walked out. Three men were lifting Ayaka into a wheelchair for Kakashi to wheel home but he wasn't about to have her go that way.

"Matte," he said stopping them, "let me just carry her."

"But Kakashi," one started but Tsunade motioned for him to hush.

"I would rather her not have a wheelchair to depend on, it reduces her efforts of going after Nyoko," he explained so that he wouldn't have anyone question his motive.

"I'm having things sent to your place to help take care of her injuries and one of the hawks incase you need someone to help you."

"Arigatou," he replied as he lifted Aya into his arms.

"But, you are to be aware that I have an assigned woman to come give her a regular bathing time every other day. That keeps her from questioning things and you from embarrassing either yourself or her."

"I appreciate that. I'm going to get her settled into a more comfortable place." He vanished before she could reply to him but she smiled and walked back into the room to gather the meds she was going to have sent over.

"I've got you, just take it easy," Kakashi whispered at Ayaka's grip on his vest. She whimpered slightly but was still sleeping. Her nails weren't painful but he worried they might get stuck in the fabric of his vest. He slipped his hands underneath her fingers and they retracted easy enough. He laid her down on his bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders.

His fingers were itching to feel her skin, just to see if she was, in fact, warm enough to be alive, so he glided his fingers along her neck and onto her cheeks. They were still as soft as last time, only now she had scratches and bruises all over from the fight.

He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed the wet cloth. As gently as he could he wiped at the dried blood until it was merely a pink scuff on her skin. Thinking back Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone still look so beautiful with so many injuries.

Soon, after he made some dinner, the delivery of meds and clean bandages arrived. Kakashi noticed the note on top of the pile that read, 'Instructions on keeping her comfortable and healthy…maybe I should read this now.' So Kakashi sat back on the chair by the bed and read through the paper twice making sure he didn't miss anything. 'Thanks Tsunade.'

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"Kiba-kun! Kiba-kun!"

Akamaru yelped for Kiba to come down from the roof where he had been fixing the hole he made the day before. Kiba hopped down and wiped his brow from the heat. He dusted off his sleeves as he wearily looked at Hinata. She had a worried expression and tears in her eyes.

"What is it, Hinata?"

"You need to come quickly, something has happened!"

"To who?"

"Nyoko-san and Ayaka-sama—

Kiba and Akamaru ran past her and headed for Tsunade's mansion to find out what she was talking about.

Sprinting up the stairs and through the hallway he almost ran over Shizune exiting the office.

"Kiba! What are you doing?"

"Is Tsunade in?"

"Hai, but—

Kiba rushed through and froze when he saw Naruto, Shino, Neji and Rock Lee standing at attention in front of Tsunade's desk. Her eyebrow arched at Kiba's interruption but she relaxed back against her chair.

"I want to know what is going on."

Naruto was ready to fill in the blanks but Tsunade stopped him short.

As she explained the story, or as much as they knew, word by word Kiba's heart began to race. Akamaru whined as the information became that of the disappearance of Nyoko and Takahiro.

"Now, my plan is to send these four to find and retrieve her—

"I'm going with them," Kiba rushed to interject and took a step forward to solidify his statement.

"You four are dismissed for now," Tsunade stated, seeing that Kiba would make a scene in front of his peers if she didn't remove them from the room. Looks were exchanged between Lee and Naruto while Neji and Shino led them out. Tsunade placed her gaze back on him when the door was closed completely, "Kiba, you were not chosen for a few reasons, and those four will do the job well."

"But I can track her down."

"So can Shino."

"I have her scent," Kiba argued.

"I know you have, from the countless hours you have spent with her, which is one of the reasons I did not plan for you to go."

"But I must be there," he insisted.

"I have made my decision—

"But it's the **wrong** decision—

"Kiba, it is not wise to argue with me," Tsunade practically seethed from her chair.

"I need to see her," Kiba was almost yelling but Akamaru bumped him to bring him back to his senses.

Tsunade was quiet for a length of time and it put Kiba on edge to think that he might have ruined his chances at ever going on the mission.

"I will allow you to go--on one condition…"

"Anything," he said and smiled for the first time.

"I want your oath that, when you find her, you will not kill those who took her. Leave their lives in the hands of the others; we may want to question them. Maybe a trial will be the best outcome to all this…"

"So I can't give them what they deserve?"

"No. You are not the judge, jury, and executioner."

"I…" he had to think hard on this but when it came down to it, he hoped to get Nyoko and escape faster than the others just to get her to safety once more. "I promise."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Smelling his cologne made her try to pull the soft object closer to her face but she felt too much pain to move very far. Without realizing that someone was in the room with her she hissed at the pain and bit her lip to keep from cursing.

"Ayaka?" His voice was so close and so real she could believe that it was real this time. Turning her face toward his voice she could make out his shadow across the room.

"Kakashi?" she asked meekly.

"I'm here."

"What happened?"

"You had a nasty fight. How bad is the pain?"

"On a scale from one to ten…it's about a twelve." Typically she wouldn't admit she even was in pain but she guessed there was no harm at the moment to be truthful instead of prideful.

"Here, I have some medicine from Tsunade," he said coming close to her in the dark and opening something from the nightstand. She could see him fine now, but she was tempted to not let him know that.

"Why am I here? And where is---Oh my word, Nyoko, she was taken—

"I know." He placed his hand on her upper arm to stop her from getting up, "They sent a team out. They'll get her back, Aya. You just rest," he replied and calmly brushed her hair out of her face before handing her a glass of water.

"Who went?" she asked hoarsely, taking the pills he gave her.

"Naruto, Neji, Lee, and Kiba. She's in good hands." Kakashi was answering her questions but it was like he was more concerned about checking her temperature and helping her take the pills than the discussion.

"I know they will find her, but I have to help, I have to get her back. I need to know that she's okay," she rushed her words yet Kakashi was still able to know what she was saying.

"Ayaka, please, don't make me hold you down," he whispered grabbing her shoulders firmly yet tenderly, "I understand how you feel but you are not in a state to fight anyone."

"I can do it; I'm not worried about me."

"That's why I'm here. I _am_ worried about you; now please don't give me any trouble," Kakashi declared as he laid her back against the pillows.

Searching what she could see of his face she was momentarily stunned, "Are you taking care of me?"

"Hai, until you're well again," his gaze settled on her and she didn't feel uncomfortable but her cheeks flamed a little.

"Can you see me?" she asked wondering if what she was taught about the Sharingan was true.

"Half and half."

"Because you only have one eye that has the Sharingan?"

"My right eye can see you as a dark shadow and the moon is hitting your profile so I can see your reactions…I'm not using my sharingan just in case I need it later."

"I see…" she started to feel drowsy again and her fingers started to tingle. "Do the pills put me to sleep by chance?"

"Hai."

"I can feel the effect of them already."

"As long as you aren't in pain."

"No, not at all, it's just that I wanted to talk with you more…especially the fact that I can see you perfectly in the dark."

"I assumed so; you were looking straight at my eye just like normal."

"You don't even need the Sharingan to see things then…you are a very talented and knowledgeable ninja…" she claimed sleepily and her hands and feet wouldn't move. "I will never forgive you if I never wake up from this medicine…" she said and then tried to laugh but it came out as a moan before she fell asleep.

Kakashi smiled at her sleeping form and lightly laughed at her last statement.

"You are a feisty little thing," he whispered and not thinking about what he was doing, he leaned over and kissed her forehead but didn't remove the mask. He backed up in the chair and tried to clear his head.

'Why did I…what am I… Good thing she was sleeping.' Even though he couldn't feel her skin underneath his lips he was stunned at his behavior. 'It won't happen again…however it's like a scene from Make-out Par…I need to stop. I will stop.' Kakashi got out of the chair and crouched onto the cot set up for him to sleep on. 'It's going to be a long hard battle, I can tell already.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Aya lay staring at the wall to her right. She was curled in fetal position and was hugging a pillow to her chest to keep her shoulders from sagging inward. She could hear Kakashi's soft breathing from behind her.

"Kakashi?"

"Hai?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Hai."

"Then can you answer a question I have, please?" she asked meekly from her position on the bed.

"Just one?"

"Hai."

"What is it?"

"How did you get one Sharingan?"

"It was a gift," he mentioned soberly.

"A gift?" she asked trying to get more out of him.

"You said just one question," he quoted sternly but was holding back a smile underneath his mask.

"Gomen…"

Kakashi wanted desperately to show her that he trusted her but he was still unsure about his past becoming a topic of discussion.

"My best friend gave it to me when I graduated as a jounin at a young age…before he…before he got the chance to."

Ayaka turned in the bed to face him. "What was he like?"

"Good-doer, never serious, loved everyone…he was an Uchiha," he stated matter-of-factly.

"How was he able to give you his Sharingan?"

"Our third teammate, a medic ninja, had the power to take what he had and give it to me."

"That is amazing."

"Yes, she was…"

Ayaka's heart stopped for a moment and it hurt when it started up again. She couldn't stop her next question from coming out in a soft murmur, "Did you love her?"

When Kakashi looked up at Aya he noticed she wasn't looking at him but at her hands and she had the most solemn expression he had ever witnessed on her face. "Of course," he said and watched as she hid her features by turning back toward the wall, "she was the sister I never had." Aya stayed in that position as she asked her next question.

"Why are they not here anymore?" she questioned so softly that he didn't feel threatened. Her throat was full of emotion but she pushed it down with a hard swallow.

"Obito was killed and gave me the Sharingan before taking his last breath. Rin died of a broken heart soon after."

"I'm sorry that things happened that way, it must have hurt more than anything…"

"I've yet to feel something worse," he stated without hesitation.

"Thank you for telling me Kakashi," she said after a moment of silence, "…I now understand the pain you've been through. I appreciate why you keep that to yourself."

"No need to say thank you…I should have told you a while ago."

"Do you have any family?"

"My mother raised me for most of my childhood because my father was constantly on high risk A-rank missions. He was a popular request during the war."

"Oh? What was his name?"

"Most people knew him as Konoha's White Fang."

"Your father was Sakumo Hatake?" she asked turning her face as fast as she could manage to see his face. She knew that he had committed suicide in front of his son, 'Kakashi has the memory of watching his father kill himself?!'

"Even though his disgrace to the village led me to be very much by-the-book, I never blamed him. I just tried to learn from his mistakes…" he answered, sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"Kakashi," she whispered and laid her hand on his knee, "That's partially why I admire you." She had a somber expression until it sunk in what she said. Her smirk grew bigger but her hand didn't leave his knee.

"Partially?" he questioned searchingly.

"I admire you for many more reasons, but I'm not going to spell them out, just in case you get egotistical or something," she joked with him and she could tell he was smiling under the mask.

"I would never think too highly of myself, there isn't that much to brag about," he responded, patting her hand that was affecting him more than he let on.

Aya felt a little elevation in her heart but she simply smiled at his gloved palm being on her skin. "I think you have plenty to brag about, after all, you are one of the few jounin in Konoha…however, I will admit that I'm glad you don't," she affirmed with a grin.

"I could say the same for you," Kakashi spoke softly as he took her hand and put it on the bed. He wasn't about to acknowledge how much her laying there was making him think about scenes from all the books he had read. 'Those books will get me in trouble…if I try anything with her…' Shaking his head slightly to try and erase his thoughts made Ayaka look at him strangely and sit up slightly in the bed.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he said too quickly.

"Kakashi…" she muttered with warning in her voice.

"I'm going to the kitchen, do you want anything?"

"No, thank you," she answered and watched him leave the room. She heard the sink running and then a splash but she wasn't sure what he was doing. Wishing she could move around more only made her frustrated.

He was rummaging through the fridge one minute then the freezer the next. It sounded like he was looking for something in the cupboards, one by one, but wasn't taking anything out.

'He can be so strange sometimes,' she thought momentarily. Tired of sitting around doing nothing, Aya struggled painfully to get up and out of the bed. She minimized her grunts and was grabbing for the cane against the wall when her knee gave way to her weight. Knowing she was going to land on her hands didn't stop her from crying out.

Opening her eyes to the realization that she didn't hit the hard floor, she looked into the eye that she had well memorized by now.

"What are you doing?" he asked sternly.

"Falling?" she tried at a joke but he was not smiling.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I wanted to get up, dang it," she stated trying to shrug him off so she could stand on her own two feet.

"Let me help you."

"I don't want to need anyone's help," Aya replied as he cradled her in his arms. When he hesitated she looked up at him.

"Teamwork is the only way to accomplish things without hurting yourself more," Kakashi responded but still didn't put her down.

"I'm not used to this kind of teamwork," she said, realizing that she couldn't bring herself to breathe normally.

"Neither am I." His voice was low and masculine as he stared into her face.

"You can put me down now…" she murmured after a couple moments' pause.

"Can I trust that you won't try to get up again?"

"I realize I'm not able to get up on my own," she said lowering her head.

"You fought very bravely, and very well," he corrected seeing the pain that ran through her features, "I just hope you will be alright." Kakashi laid her back inside the cooled covers.

"I'll be fine…my injuries may take longer than most people but when they heal, they heal stronger than before." Her head was pounding and her body was sweating but she was really cold.

"That's good to know." Covering her once more made him realize how restricting it must be to be bed-ridden. "Maybe one of these days I will take you for an outing."

"Would you really?" Hope sprung to her eyes and she felt moisture around them. Kakashi was so stunned by her show of emotion he grazed his thumb under her eye to take away the tear that had escaped.

"Of course," he whispered.

"I…arigatou." Then Aya remembered what she wanted to inquire about earlier that day, "Have you found out any more information on Nyoko's captors?" She snuggled down into the covers to get the warmth around her.

"From what you were able to tell us, and from the bodies you so nicely boxed up for us, we have paired them with some criminals that have been in hiding while the Akatsuki was gathering the beasts and causing problems. They are now under the thumb of someone unknown. It's too soon to know enough," he supposed and brushed some of her hair out of her face.

Ayaka glanced up to see his expression and found him frowning upon her.

"What is it?"

"You have a fever."

"That would explain why my head is throbbing…"

"It's slight but I'm going to get some wet cloths," he stated as he got around the bed frame and went into the kitchen again.

Ayaka knew she had a fever but she didn't want to tell him…and his cool touch on her forehead made her forget about hiding it because it felt so good on her skin.

"You might have an infection, take these pills and I'm going to undo your leg bandage to check the injury," he said handing her three small pills.

"These won't knock me out will they?"

"No, but your headache will fade away."

"That's good…" She watched as he lifted the covers and paused at her black capri pajamas. "Uh, do you want me to…" but she was too embarrassed to finish her sentence.

He looked equally flustered but shook his head.

"Just relax," he replied, however, she wasn't sure whether he was talking to himself or to Aya. She rested her back against the stack of pillows and watched him take his time in moving her pajamas up her leg until it was past the medical dressing. Aya dismissed the feeling of a chill running up her spine at his tenderness. Everything he did was making her go slightly mad.

'I wonder if he knows how much he affects me…I wish he would remove his mask…even if it were to kiss him soundly on the lips.' Ayaka turned her head away quickly when he looked at her right when she thought that. 'Oh dear, please don't read my thoughts, I would die of humiliation!' Nevertheless, a small and foolish part of her wished he would know her notion and remove it to do exactly that.

"Tell me if I hurt you," he said before going back to his nursing.

"I will," she replied with more meaning than she thought he knew.

Her leg didn't look as bad as she thought it was going to and Kakashi didn't wince when he saw it. The skin was healing nicely and the scabbing was in natural colors. Kakashi cleaned the dried blood, put some ointment on it, and redressed the thigh. He took such extra care to be gentle that Aya didn't feel any pain.

"Arigatou," Aya stated calmly as he was pulling down her pajama leg. In contradiction to her calm response her inside senses were heightened. He was making her thoughts scatter in all directions.

"You're going to have something to remember that by," he stated, meaning a long scar across her thigh.

"I realize that," she replied pulling the covers up to her ribs. She could feel the effect of the meds fighting the fever but she was still cold on the inside.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"No, why should it? I'm fine with it and when I get my sister back it'll be an emblem of victory," she smiled at him but he seemed to be processing the concept with a blank look on his face.

"Emblem of victory…?" Kakashi whispered.

Ayaka leaned forward, took one of his hands and brought his face up to meet hers, "Kakashi, I'm not going to let this bother me and you shouldn't either."

Looking into her eyes so closely made his world seem to brighten into a hue he'd never seen before.

"You are braver than I," he replied without moving anything but his lips.

"No I'm not, I'm just more optimistic," Ayaka responded with her smirk to the side. She went to draw away but Kakashi stopped her with both of his hands.

"I should have been there to help you. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I knew what was going on."

"I wished you were there throughout the whole thing…but, I don't blame you for not being there, so don't look into the past with such regret, ok?"

"Regardless…" he started to say more but she hushed him with her finger over his mouth.

"There was no way for me to get word to you or I would have," her firm reply came closer to his face than she had intended.

The two stared at each other meaningfully and Aya could have sworn that she could read his thoughts. His right eye, the one she always saw, was looking at her with such powerful feeling that her hand twitched in her lap.

"Do you…" she began but he shushed her this time.

"You should rest," was all he said and got out of the chair. He turned out the lights and left the room for the kitchen.

Feeling dejected by his abruptness made sleeping impossible.

'We were connecting so well, what happened? Do I have bad breath or something?' she scoffed at her stupidity and tried to get comfortable. Nothing was working.

By the time the clock ticked two minutes past three in the morning she knew she wasn't going to be getting the 'rest' she needed.

"Five hours since I was told to get some rest and I lay here staring at the ceiling…how joyful," she said quietly and sarcastically to the air above her. "Lord, please lead the boys to Nyoko and Takahiro and keep them safe until they are returned to me. I know she is in your graceful and tender hands. Thank you for always hearing my prayers and for always being there when those around me fail…and especially when I fail," she finished with an 'Amen' and breathed easier. Thankfully, shortly after that, she found light slumber but Kakashi was watching from the other room and had heard what she had prayed.

'I don't deserve her.'

----------------------------------------

"Let me go!" Nyoko yelled at her captor's backs but they laughed and walked out of the room where she was strapped to a chair. Next to her was Takahiro in a cage. His fur had blood splatter on it but, thankfully, he wasn't hurt.

'I wonder whose blood that is…' Nyoko pondered and looked up.

Moonlight filtered into the room from a high, thin window. Nyoko could hear the crickets and an owl calling out into the darkness. Something in the hallway sounded like slithering scales crawling across the cobbles toward her door. She wasn't so much frightened as she was angry.

The slithering passed without so much of a pause at the door.

Trying to remember how she got there, Nyoko backed up to the moment she left Kiba's presence outside the woman's bath house.

_Nyoko walked up to him and stretched out her hand to finally give up the badge._

_Kiba looked down at it and snatched it from her. She slightly jumped at his reaction. Akamaru whined at his master's state and Kiba glared at him to be quiet._

"_Kiba, are you alright?" Nyoko asked seeing some cuts in his jacket._

"_I'm fine."_

"_But you might have gotten hurt," she said reaching for a scratch that had started bleeding. Kiba pulled away from her grasp and stuffed the forehead protector in his pocket._

"_I said 'I'm fine'." Kiba didn't say goodbye before vanishing from the street and leaving Nyoko stunned at his departure. _

She had sighed deeply and motioned for Takahiro to follow. Not knowing where anyone else was, she started looking for Sakura. Apparently Sakura and Ino were training with Tsunade that day and wouldn't be available. She had just met Hinata so she tried looking her up. Hinata's father answered the door and announced that Hinata wasn't there but when she did get back they were going to have dinner then train Hinata's younger sister.

Halfheartedly Nyoko turned down the offer to wait for her to search out someone who didn't have anything else to do. She knew her sister was with a new jounin that claimed to be Kakashi's rival, but Nyoko doubted that they would want her hanging around their work. Nyoko then thought of Ten-Ten but as she rounded a corner she had seen her enter a restaurant with Neji, Shino, and their families.

'Why is it I leave Kiba's side and now no one is free?' Nyoko laughed at the coincidence and decided she would go to the apartment to eat. There was a note that Kakashi was having dinner with Izumo, Kotetsu and Yamato.

"It looks like we're on our own tonight, Taka." Nyoko didn't mind too much it just felt like she was suddenly thrown into a new culture with no one there to translate what was going on. Before long, Nyoko got restless and decided that she should try to find Kiba and apologize. Since they were supposed to practice their genjitsu tonight on the training lot she headed there.

Unbeknownst to her, it was exactly what her enemy had wanted. She had waited fifteen minutes and was ready to go looking for Kiba when something pierced her and she blackened out almost immediately.

Sighing loudly, Nyoko looked back on those moments in exasperation. How could she have been oblivious to four or five ninjas? Was her mind really that cluttered with thoughts of Kiba or was she loosing her touch?

"Gomen, Taka…" she whispered through hot tears and her cat leaned out his head to lick her imprisoned hand.

The next day held little promise of finding out what she was kidnapped for. She was given food and bathroom breaks but the food tasted horrible and the breaks were brief. She kept demanding information but no one seemed to hear her. It felt like a horrible nightmare.

Trapped and alone Nyoko tried to keep her optimism higher by counting her many blessings...starting with having friends that, she knew, were on their way.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The ginger knock at the door interrupted Aya's painting. She wiped her hands on the apron and watched Kakashi answer the door. Gai burst in with a handful of flowers from Inos' family's shop and announced that he was there to visit Ayaka-sama.

"Ohayou, Gai," she said smiling maturely at her guest. He walked up to her and handed the flower-filled vase to her. "Oh! Arigatou, my friend. Please, sit." Twisting in the chair she placed the vase on the side table and turned her attention to the flowers to fix their slight chaotic placement because of his journey up the stairs.

"I heard that you were receiving guests and I wanted to be the first to see how you were doing." Gai replied taking in the painting she had been working on.

"My, word gets around fast," Aya responded winking at Kakashi behind Gai's back. Kakashi didn't look happy at who had arrived but he acknowledged her wink before returning to the kitchen.

"Hai, Sakura is very informative when it comes to personal matters," Gai agreed kindly.

Aya picked up her brush once more, "How have you fared lately?"

"Very well, I just got back from a mission with a small battalion. They did very well also, if I say so myself."

Ayaka smiled pleasantly at his remarks but was concentrating on her painting as he explained the whole assignment.

After a moments' pause to catch his breath from his story he remarked on her painting, "You have a beautiful gift, Ayaka-sama."

"Arigatou, Gai, Kakashi set me up with this chair and easel by this window so that I may get my mind off of Nyoko and the boys…"

"He is very thoughtful," Gai agreed matter-of-factly.

"He sure is," she replied trying her best not to blush knowing that he was probably listening to their conversation.

"Much like Naruto," Gai commented standing up from the stuffed chair to stand by the window.

"Have you any news about the mission?"

Gai sighed but didn't answer vocally; his only response was a shake of his head.

"Are you worried about Neji and Lee?" she asked concerned about his reaction.

"I trained them to be prepared," he said confidently, "but with maturity comes bigger obstacles to face. I hope I trained them well to do this…"

"Without you?" Aya finished softly, understanding where he was coming from.

"Hai," he whispered toward the window.

"Cheer up, Gai, I trust those boys and I barely know them. My faith is in them to bring back my sister and when they do they will be stronger than before."

"Stronger than yesterday…"

"Exactly."

Kakashi listened as the one who stood to loose the most was cheering up someone else. Knowing how amazing someone is was different than learning how amazing they were. Coming into the room Kakashi placed the meal and drink next to the flowers Aya was given. Realizing that they were the fifth set of flowers that Aya had gotten from friends made him rethink his previous belief that flowers were not connected to cheering someone up.

"Arigatou, Kakashi," Aya replied, noticing the food, "Gai, would you like some as well?"

Kakashi hoped that he would decline and was tempted to cross his fingers.

"Ah, I would love to," Gai responded as Kakashi's stomach knotted in annoyance, "but I must get ready for my next mission, which starts in two hours."

Kakashi held back his smile.

"Well, I appreciate the flowers and the company," Ayaka replied from her chair.

"Any time, Aya-sama. It is always a pleasure to be in your presence." Gai said 'farewell' to them both and left.

Ayaka slid the plate toward her and started to eat when she looked up to find Kakashi looking at her. "Nani?"

"Are you always sweet to everyone?" he questioned her in a soft yet manly tone.

Arching her brow she stared back, "How do you mean?"

He didn't answer her but walked up to her and studied the painting, "It looks incredible."

"It's for you," she said turning back to the canvas with the scene on it. The sky was a brilliant blue fading into the horizon as full trees surrounded the memorial for those ninjas lost in battle. Around the grave were flowers, matching those that she had gotten recently. "It's what I would do if I was able to walk…" she whispered and lightly touched the painted memorial with her finger tip smearing two colors to blend, giving the monument a glaze.

"This is what I was talking about, Aya-sama," Kakashi commented, coming around to face her. He knelt so that he could look her in the eyes. "Does this just come naturally to you?"

"I…I don't know, I suppose it does…" she stuttered unsure at what he wanted to know.

"You…" Kakashi was at a loss for words, as well, but he was determined to show her how she affected him. With his left hand he raised the forehead protector and slowly opened his eyes.

Aya searched both of his eyes for the first time and then grinned in complete fascination. His left eye didn't look any different from the other one except for the long, vertical scar running down the middle of the eye and cheek. Without thinking, or caring about her actions, she immediately reached for the scar and tenderly ran her fingertips down its length.

"How did this…?" she spoke softly but didn't allow him to respond by covering his lips with her finger. "_Ki ni shi nai_…" (Never mind…)

Kakashi swallowed hard trying to keep himself from taking her in his arms and showing her his deeper feelings.

"It doesn't look like the Sharingan right now." She whispered again because she was so close to him she was scared to talk any louder.

"It doesn't turn crimson when I'm not using it…" he whispered back.

"I see…" Aya murmured, getting comfortable with his closeness.

Out of pure boldness, Kakashi reached for her face and held her jaw within his hand. Affectionately, he dared to massage her satin skin with his thumb and he continued to when she didn't pull back from his touch.

Aya felt her expression soften as his tenderness washed over her like a refreshing waterfall cleaning her from any other person in the world. "Kakashi…"

"Hai?"

"You're unlike anyone I've ever met…" Aya mumbled and smirked when he gave her a questioning look. "In a good way," she finished.

She saw his mask move to form a smile underneath. Wishing she could see what it hid but not wanting to push him away now that he was getting so close to being open with her, Aya combed her fingers through the back of his hair to keep them busy. The texture of his hair was smooth and it reminded her of soft fur.

Kakashi closed his eyes enjoying her fingers on his scalp. His chest felt restricted and heavy in a way he had never known before, but the more noticeable feeling was somewhere he didn't want to acknowledge at the moment. The simplicity between them was too nice to interrupt with something as serious as that.

He swallowed and tried to calm his body but she twirled fragrances and sensations around him like a million fireflies dancing about him in a deep night of warmth and passion. He moved his hands from her shoulders and grasped her upper arms in an effort to distract his mind.

Ayaka could read his heart rhythm as it beat in sporadic patterns and knew he was fighting what she was feeling too. Placing both hands on either side of his head, she placed a chaste kiss on his forehead right underneath his protector.

"I think we're getting too close for our own good."

Connecting his eyes with hers he asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know…"

"Will you make Konoha your residence?"

"Well, when this mission is over and I get my sister back, we're returning to our village. We're going to try to rebuild it." Her fingers slid from his hair and down his chest as he backed away. Revelation dawned on his face but he was quick at hiding its effect on him.

"You aren't staying?" Kakashi concluded in a strange voice.

"I…I was only here to help. And besides, our travel visa doesn't allow us to stay indefinitely."

"Of course," he stated in a stiff tone that left her feeling sorry that she brought it up, "this isn't your home."

Aya inhaled silently at his severity. She wanted to take back the conversation change completely, but it was too late. She tried to take his hand but he retracted it from her reach.

"I should have known better." Pacing to the window he kept his back to her.

"What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't have allowed myself…such liberties with you."

"Just because I'm planning on leaving doesn't mean I don't care for you, Kakashi," she stood up with help from her cane, "in contrast, I feel more for you than should be permitted."

He turned back to her and searched her face for some ounce of falsehood in her statement. He saw none.

"You could have so much more in someone else…" he finished the sentence in his head, 'even though I couldn't stand seeing you with anyone other than myself.'

"I don't want anyone else."

Kakashi didn't know what to say so he remained quiet and still.

Aya held out her hand to him, "You can come closer."

Kakashi confidently strode back to her. He took her in his arms and held her to him as though she were going to disappear.

She clutched him just as frantically, hoping there was some way to keep him in her life.

----------------------------------------------------------

Nyoko looked up as the door opened. She had gotten used to the set periods that food arrived so she was curious to see someone enter at a different time. Glancing out her window, she guessed it was around ten in the morning.

When she recognized the two figures in the doorway she put up her guard and didn't say anything.

"Nothing to say, little kitty?" Kabuto asked with a sneer.

Nyoko glared at him and Takahiro dug his claws into the small blanket lining his cage.

"Don't tease her, Kabuto, she can be very sensitive," a wicked voice came from beside the four-eyed apprentice.

"Do you want me to handle her?" Kabuto questioned and got the nod of approval. He walked up to Nyoko, patted her head then pulled out a needle and stuck her with it. Nyoko flinched but refused to comment or protest. She couldn't do anything and she hated that she was forced to sit and take it. 'I'm not about to give them the pleasure to hear me scream.'

She felt drowsy but she didn't fall asleep, she just lost all ability to move her arms and legs. They removed the straps and Kabuto lifted her and headed for the hallway. Takahiro started meowing loudly and hissed at Orochimaru before he left the cell.

They entered a room with a freshly made bed and wires hanging from all over the ceiling. The far wall was covered with television screens and computers. Nyoko read the messages on the monitors before they laid her out on the bed and started strapping her down in case the sedatives wore off. She sighed impatiently as Kabuto leaned in and grinned evilly.

"Do you have somewhere else you need to be, little kitty?"

"Is there a point to all this?" Nyoko asked without looking at him.

"You know full well that Orochimaru has big plans to gain more jutsus. You're just one of the many," he sneered and messed up her hair in a rough back-and-forth manner.

"You both are so pathetic."

Both men looked over at her but Orochimaru was the only one amused by her attitude.

"You aren't the only one we want and having you will help us get the other jutsus I need. Easy plan, don't you think?"

"If you think my sister is going to teach you to use her jutsus than you're more insane then we first credited you for."

Orochimaru laughed and then motioned for Kabuto to start his procedure. Orochimaru left to go to his chambers. Kabuto wouldn't be ready for him for another couple days. Kabuto booted up the software. Kabuto's assistant appeared from the shadows.

He wasn't familiar to Nyoko but she didn't like him already. His dark eyes were creepy. He grunted at Kabuto then turned to administrate the needle into Nyoko to draw her blood.

She hissed at him because he wasn't being tender with her.

After smacking her across the mouth, he studiously calculated the liters of blood her arm was giving him.

She felt the light trickle of blood leaving her lip but she couldn't remove it and soon it dried.

Kabuto was very particular about his measurements and notes so it wasn't long before he ignored the fact she was awake.

"You're bedside manner sucks," she snapped at the silent yet physically abusive assistant.

The evil-eyed subordinate glared at her and walked away from the bed with his notes to give Kabuto.

"Why are you such a traitor to your village? What did they do to you that you'd choose Ugly over them?" Nyoko commented to Kabuto.

He turned, and for a moment she thought he was going to answer her, but he grabbed the full bag hanging near her of her blood and exchanged it for an empty one.

She lay there staring at the many wires draping from the ceiling with no hope of going through the tests unscathed. It was only a matter of minutes before they started taking skin, hair, and print samples. She knew once they had those, they were going to start injecting weird chemicals and trying to manipulate her DNA.

For the fourth time, Nyoko tried to cut her way through the leather binds holding her to the bed. She had managed to flush the sedative out of her arms through her many years of training. Her sister had prepared her for times such as these.

The straps were not budging, how annoying.

Evil-Eyes was casually walking back to the bed when he noticed her attempt to loosen the leather. Anger quickly picked up in his expression and he tossed the notepad on the bed covers. Unexpectedly, he grabbed her fingers and, one by one, started breaking them at the joints.

Nyoko yelled before she could hold it back.

Then, just as he was about to break a fourth finger, a huge explosion shook the world around them. Computer screens and wires started crashing to the floor, Kabuto jumped out of his chair before he landed on his back.

Nyoko was thankful for the diversion because the assistant went to the door to check what was going on.

In moments Kabuto and his aid were gone, probably checking on Orochimaru, and she was left to lie on the bed. Sighing loudly at her predicament and hoping her left hand fingers would just go numb already, Nyoko tried once more to claw her way out of her bonds.

It was an hour before she heard anyone in the hallway. Her heart skipped at the voice and hoped she wasn't imagining it.

"I'm in here! Help me! I'm in this room! I'm in here!"

Seconds ticked by and then the door flew open. Three faces, Nyoko thought were an illusion, appeared in the dim lighting.

"Nyoko!" Lee shouted from the doorway.

All she could do was stare at Lee, Akamaru, and Kiba.

Kiba rushed over to her and started undoing the straps on her wrists as Lee got her ankles.

"How are you, did they hurt yo—?" Kiba stopped his question when he saw her split lip. He frowned and then he didn't notice her swelling fingers until she yelped at his rough removal of her hand from the bed brace.

His cheeks started to flame up with suppressed anger as she climbed on Akamaru's back.

"What about Takahiro?" Nyoko asked as Kiba climbed on behind her.

"Neji and Naruto are searching for him."

"What about Orochimaru and Kabuto?"

"As far as we know, they've escaped. We have only run into their helpers." Lee explained as he ran next to Akamaru. They passed a large room and then stopped suddenly when they registered what they saw. Naruto and Neji were in battle with four other ninjas. Lee made a fist and hollered to Kiba.

"Take Nyoko out of here, I'll find Takahiro and meet you at our reference point."

"Hai!" Kiba yelled and made Akamaru head for the main hallway to get out of the massive tunnels.

After Akamaru reached the main doors they heard an explosion but it didn't shake them as much as it made the tunnels fill with smoke and ash. Kiba clasped Nyoko tighter around her waist and leaned toward her ear.

"Who gave you the injuries?"

Nyoko looked at her hand before answering, "Some guy with really evil eyes. I didn't find out his name."

"What all did he do?" Kiba seethed.

"Split my lip for talking back and snapped my fingers for trying to escape."

"What were you doing in that room?"

"They were taking my blood for tests…"

Kiba remained silent but held fast to her until they came to a tree, old and hollow, that held a small space amongst its roots.

Kiba gently applied some ointment to her lip and then paused before tenderly taking her hand.

"Are you ready?" he asked her before lifting his other hand.

"Hai, just do it." Nyoko grabbed his jacket lapel with her right hand and clamped her mouth shut.

Looking straight into her eyes the entire time, he went through each finger and put them back in place. Tears streamed down her cheeks and he ached for her pain to be his.

When he was done wrapping her hand in bandages, Nyoko fell into his arms from the pain and exhaustion. The pressure was gone but her fingers were going to be in pain for weeks to come.

Kiba wasn't sure if she passed out or if she just lost all strength, so he held her close and soothingly until her soft breathing told him she had fallen asleep.

As the moon rose and the cool of the night set in, Nyoko started shaking, so Akamaru came over and laid next to her to add warmth.

Kiba smiled at his dog for being so generous then worry struck him for the first time. What if Takahiro was not able to come back to Nyoko? He ran his fingers through her hair as he pondered how she would take that kind of news. All he knew at this point in time was he would be there for her through it all.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"How do you feel this morn--?" Kakashi stopped as he came into the bedroom.

Aya looked up from her position on the bed. She had been finishing the blueprints since early this morning. She had even risen before Kakashi but she wasn't about to tell him that she had quietly made breakfast and watched him sleep from the kitchen doorway as the dawn broke over the horizon. It had cast a lovely shade of orange and yellow over his face, mask, and hands. The curtains from the living room were drawn and light was softly pouring onto the couch and it's sleeping owner. She had stored that moment in her memory to paint later, but that too wasn't going to be discussed. Today they planned to go out for a picnic and she was ready to feel the outdoors again.

"I'm ready, let's go," she said.

Kakashi thought she was going to pop a blood vessel with her excitement. He was glad that she had hope back in her eyes, though; it almost made him forget that there were any cares in the world.

He had noticed the full picnic basket on the counter when he got up but hadn't thought that Ayaka was the cause of it for some reason. Maybe he was imprinted with the idea that she was going to be dependent on him for much longer than just these past seven weeks.

He was beside her as they walked down the hallway and when they reached the stairs he was tempted to pick her up but she would've slapped him if he tried. Kakashi knew when pride was more important to a woman than her healing legs.

The day was perfect, as Ayaka kept saying it would be. The sun was warm and the breeze flowed at just the right speed. The rain wasn't due until afternoon and they had the advantage of being the only ones who didn't need to go work on a mission.

"This hill is wonderful, what do you think?" she asked without turning to see his reaction. Kakashi was glad she didn't for she would have seen him staring at her.

He watched as she scanned the area by shielding her eyes with her hand. The wind picked up her jacket sending it dancing around her thighs. Her hair sparkled as though it was a waterfall and her smile could surpass the sun. He felt his heart lighten at her finding joy in the small things around them.

Surprisingly, Aya didn't pursue a comment from him; she just set the blanket out for them to sit on. Kakashi placed the basket on the edge between them and hoped it would be a good protector from Ayaka. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she drew him in like nothing else did.

Especially in public, he had to set barriers between them or gossip would fly.

They talked and Aya didn't seem to notice that he hadn't eaten anything.

Kakashi found himself not hungry for food…he was hungry to know more about Ayaka-sama. He asked the uncomplicated questions and the hard questions about her past, her family, and her education.

He eventually admitted his full past. What it was like to watch his father kill himself and the horror his mom went through at knowing that her husband wasn't in heaven because of it. He explained how he spent more of his educational years under his sempei's direction than with his mom. She had eventually gone to live with his grandparents in seclusion because she couldn't take the village's pity or questions.

Aya understood what he meant; she went through surrounding towns that would know the history of her parent's and clan's destruction. Pity was the last thing she wanted from them, too.

Kakashi inquired about the scar on her right shoulder and Aya looked at him with a questioning brow.

"How did you know I had a scar on my shoulder?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck and laughed a little, "Your wraps came undone once."

"Oh," she murmured and blushed slightly, "well the one on my left shoulder is from training and the three on my right shoulder are from…"

He looked up at her for the unfinished sentence but she had a far away look in her eyes. He tried to wait patiently but when she didn't answer he placed his hand on her chin to bring her face towards him.

She searched his eye as if she'd never seen him before and then, in an instant, she smiled as though nothing was wrong.

"Where are they from?"

"I was trying a new jutsu when a stranger happened upon me and fought me without knowing all my techniques. He had assumed that because I was failing at my second stage of creating that I was weak. He thought I hadn't found or developed any other techniques. He was the first ninja I ever killed."

Kakashi didn't know what to say. The look in her eyes told him how it wasn't just scarring on the outside that made her look back on that instance with sadness.

"How old were you?"

"Seven."

Stunned again into silence, Kakashi slowly shoved the basket from between them and pulled her to him. He held her against his chest and she eventually wrapped her arms around his ribcage.

She liked this position. Aya smiled as she steadied her heartbeat and listened to his. Her eyes were level with his neck but she rested her forehead against it instead of staring into his mask. She felt the warmth of his hand climb up and down her back in a soothing fashion. It did more than soothe if she was to be truthful.

"Did he attack you thinking he was going to have an easy win?" he whispered to her.

"He kept saying something I didn't understand then…but I understand now," she replied.

"What did he say?"

"He said, "_When I'm finished with you, I'm going to show you how a man spreads his seeds"._"

Kakashi's eyes got big and his breathing became labored for a few moments. She was almost raped. If she hadn't been ready with other ways of protecting herself, she would have been prey to that monster. Unconsciously he pulled her in tighter and she drew her legs up under her so she wouldn't slide down his vest.

"I'm glad you're alright," he murmured and laid his chin against her hair.

She nodded once in thank you before she sighed in relief as well.

Her hands started getting cold as another conversation topic came up. The rain that was going to fall was sending a slight cold front through the wind. It wasn't going to rain for another three hours so they kept talking.

Without meaning to, Aya shivered when she was done laughing at something. Kakashi became concerned and asked I she wanted the blanket as some warmth.

"No, I'm alright, its just my hands are cold from the wind change."

"Here," Kakashi said as he unzipped his vest and he brought her against his chest again. She wrapped her arms around a thinner him and it was really warm under the vest. He made an attempt to zip it up partially but they laughed as they couldn't get it to wrap around both of them.

"That's what you get for being so skinny," Aya said between giggles.

"Oi, they tailor these to our exact sizes," he replied with a grin.

"I know…that's why you need to eat slower and more food within a day."

Kakashi shook his head, "I just tend to use it up."

"Hai, that's why you don't have an ounce of fat, it's all this rugged muscle that is hiding under this vest," Ayaka placed her right hand on his abs.

Kakashi felt tingles go down to his toes. "Are you putting chakra in my abs?"

Ayaka laughed at his question, "No, do you want me to?"

"No, it just felt like you did for a minute there…" he covered her hand with his.

She shrugged but wondered what he could have felt if she wasn't using chakra.

--------------------------------------

When the rain hit, they were glad they had made it back before the downpour. Both went to separate rooms to dry and change. It was getting close to dinner time when it finally let up.

--------------------------------------

Walking into the kitchen and seeing his back to her made her loose her nerve for a moment.

'How am I going to do this?'

Kakashi turned around and noticed how her limp was getting better by the pattern of her walking. He was about to comment on it when he saw the expression on her face.

"Nani?"

"…I-don't-think-that-it-is-proper-for-us-to-be-in-the-same-apartment-now-that-I'm-better!" She rushed it out quickly and louder than she had wished it to.

Kakashi cocked his eyebrow upward but said nothing.

"For propriety. Don't you believe…this will get too difficult to…I know that I…" she paused between so much of it and she didn't know where to start or how to finish.

Putting the dish towel on the counter, he walked to her and lifted her chin upward so she would look him in the eye.

"Are you worried?"

Her eyes said it all but Aya nodded anyways.

"Have you ever…?"

Ayaka pushed away from him slightly, "Dear heavens, no." Her eyes spoke of some panic and hesitation but also a confidence that she knew the meaning of more than what she had experienced.

Kakashi immediately saw the innocence and beauty in the fact that she had never been with a man before. She was so endearing, so pure, so much what he wanted…but he was concerned about the fear that streaked her eyes.

"Aya, I would never make you do anything that you don't want to do," he said softly to reassure her he wouldn't force her into bed.

"That's just it, I want to but I mustn't! It wouldn't be right, it wouldn't be special…believe me, I burn for you, but you and I can't take it to that level of commitment. Whether it is you or not, that I eventually marry, I will remain untouched until my wedding night. I hope that doesn't hurt you…" Aya hadn't seen much from his appearance and wasn't sure how he was going to respond.

Kakashi was speechless. From the moment he had met her he had been attracted to her. The more he learned about her, the more he cared, and this was the icing on the cake. No man had touched her, no man knew her passion and her love, and she admitted that she desired him! Kakashi was trying his best to remain calm and stoic, or at least moderately composed in her presence…but his inner desire for her was also clawing at his chest to be released. Maybe his books had more influence than he had first realized. Would he have more control over his blood pressure if he didn't have pre-images of what it would be like to have her body and soul? 'Most likely,' he thought heavily.

Ayaka was nervous about his silence and yet nothing was going to take back the words that she had thrown into the air moments before.

"It doesn't hurt me." Kakashi paused for a moment but didn't come toward her, "I respect you more than you realize. You're beautiful and I want you more than I can express in words."

Taking a large breath of relief, Aya smiled up into his affectionate eyes without fear. "I don't want to make you leave the apartment but what are we going to do when it gets…?" she didn't finish but he knew she meant when it got dark outside and desire got the best of them.

"I'm not leaving this apartment without you. I am under strict orders to watch over you. I can protect you from out here, though." He motioned with a nod to the living room couch and placed his hands on his lower hips in a relaxed pose as though it didn't bother him.

"Are you sure we can do this?" she asked hoping that he would just say yes even though she would know better…it was getting harder on her by the minute. 'And I haven't even seen all of his face yet! I haven't even kissed the man and I'm worried about being seduced by him!'

"Positive."

Aya smiled and appreciated his confident tone. That was just one more thing to check off the list of things he was good at.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and they both turned toward it. Kakashi walked to it, looked through the peep-hole and opened the door. A messenger talked with him in hushed tones and Aya recognized him from Tsunade's mansion. She watched as the graveness in Kakashi's eyes grew hard.

The messenger left but Kakashi summoned all of his dogs for a mission. He informed them of their duties and they disappeared through the doorway. He turned to her and didn't speak for a couple moments.

"What's going on?" she finally questioned him.

"The ANBU have asked for my help." He hesitated when she gave him a surprised look, "Someone will be here soon to watch over you while I fulfill a mission."

"I didn't know you were part of…" she barely whispered.

"I guess we won't have to worry about tonight," he told her trying to lighten the mood but he stopped smiling when she made no comment or switch to a smile.

"Is there any way I can help?" she asked trying to put more steel in her voice.

"Stay here and be careful, I don't want to find you over exerted yourself when I get back." Kakashi walked to a cabinet and started putting on long gloves, exchanged his vest and button-down shirt for a silver chest plate over his black spandex muscle shirt, and collected some scrolls. From the shelf above the cabinet he removed a long sword that he unsheathed to check it and put it back in so he could strap it to his back.

Ayaka watched in fascination and walked further into the living room. She realized she was seeing a new side of him.

He removed his forehead protector and his hair flopped down in low spikes, he had a tattoo on his left upper arm in the shape of a sideward eye...or it was a fire symbol…she wasn't sure exactly.

Kakashi also changed his shoes, removed his thigh wrap and was ready to go out the door when he paused. He turned back to her and walked steadily across the room toward her. She didn't dare move and anticipated what he was coming back to do.

Reaching past her head he grabbed a cat-like mask from the shelf and strapped it to his head, letting it rest on his hair.

He finally looked down into her eyes and his expression softened. A breath just escaped her when he removed his lower face mask with his left hand, pulled her face towards his with his right, and kissed her soundly on the lips.

She eventually closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. Her fingers came to his cheeks and felt the warmth of his face. She could feel his breath on her skin.

Nothing could prepare her for the moment but she made it last for as long as he allowed it. Kakashi eventually pulled away from her and brought his mask back up with both hands. His breathing was labored, as was hers, but he quickly got it back to normal before stroking her cheek and saying, "I couldn't help myself."

Before Ayaka could respond, Sakura, Ten-Ten, and Ino walked into the apartment. All three girls stopped and their eyes got really big but nothing comprehendible came out of their mouths as Kakashi and Ayaka separated more gracefully than Aya thought possible.

"Oh! We're sorry," Ten-Ten mentioned and looked down at her feet.

"We should have knocked," Sakura finally sputtered out.

"Uh, are we interrupting…?" Ino said in a knowing tone but she still flushed in awkwardness.

"They sent all three of you over?" Kakashi questioned them because he was able to click out of the embarrassment before Aya was.

"Yeah, good thing, too," Ino stated crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ino, please," Ten-Ten hissed at her, "You have no right to say that. What they do privately is none of our concern."

"I'm going," Kakashi said before giving Ayaka one more look and disappearing from the room.

The girls all stared at Aya as she collected her thoughts and tried to smooth out her breathing. She ultimately cut the awkward silence and invited the girls to sit while she made tea.

"Oh, I can do it Ayaka-sama, if you want to take a seat," Ten-Ten offered. Aya almost declined but she had stood longer than her leg was allowing. Nodding to Ten-Ten, she sat next to Sakura and across from Ino.

"So why did you all come?" Ayaka asked before the romantic moment became a conversation topic.

Sakura explained, "I'm here to give you your check-up."

"I guessed that was the meaning of you being sent, but Tsunade wouldn't send all of you, would she?" Ayaka searched carefully.

"Actually, I wanted to visit you and saw that Sakura was coming over so I joined her in the street," Ino admitted with a pleasant grin on her face. "Besides, I'm still learning this stuff so I need to take notes."

Ten-Ten walked in with the tea tray, "I joined them last minute actually because I too wanted to see how you were since the last time I visited."

"I'm doing well and the pain is minimal most of the time."

"That's good to hear," Ten-Ten replied and started pouring each serving.

"So how long have you and Kakashi been getting close?" Ino asked with a cheeky smirk.

"Ino, I told you, that is none of our business."

"It's alright," Aya stated but looked away, "it all just kind of came about…"

"What do you mean?"

Ayaka explained how they would fight about the weirdest things, then, getting through each other's stubbornness, they figured out why it was so strange between them.

"Our hearts were fighting our heads," she concluded and the three younger girls sighed as though it was the sweetest things they'd ever heard. Aya laughed at them for the way they swooned about it.

"I wish that would happen to me," Ino replied aside but everyone heard her.

"Don't worry, it'll probably sneak up on you when you're not prepared," Sakura replied between sips of tea. Ayaka noticed her far away look and had a hunch about where Sakura's thoughts were.

"I'm sure it'll hit everyone at least once in their lives…" Ten-Ten commented as she poured honey in her tea.

"You don't have room to talk, you already have a man," Ino stated flatly.

Ten-Ten reddened but didn't smile, "I don't know what you're talking about, Ino."

"Oh, please, you and Neji are perfect for each other. It's obvious you like him, too."

"Well, maybe one day he'll see that but he doesn't now…" she said quietly from her seat. The room got uncomfortable so Aya tried a new tactic.

"Sakura, what all do you have to heal tonight?"

The girls stayed somewhat somber but friendly as they watched Sakura heal the left over scars on Aya's arms and work steadily on her leg.

"So I'm guessing there's no news on the mission…" Ayaka said finally. She had been itching to ask but was scared that the news would completely kill the spirit of having friends over like it did when Gai was there last.

"I got news that there was a group of ninja traveling toward Konoha borders last night from somewhere up in the north-western sector," Ino said. "My father is pretty sure it is our guys bringing back your sister."

"Nani?!" Ayaka yelped, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Well, my father worried about giving you false hope," she explained, "but it has to be them."

"Ten-Ten, have you been able to train without your teammates?" Sakura asked trying to change the subject.

"Not regularly, but others have helped me, like Hinata and I went out yesterday."

"That's good…"

The conversation went on and Aya acted as though she was interested, but mentally she was thinking things through. Where the group must be, what road they will be on, and the time it would take to get there.

"Sakura, how do you think I am healing-wise?" Aya asked a couple moments later as she wrapped bandage around her upper arm and disguised her intentions of finding out.

"You should be all set within a couple days, thanks to your good care and rest. Speaking of rest, you should go to bed to revive those muscles I had to put back together last visit. I just messed with them once more, so they may feel sore tomorrow."

Ayaka nodded, "Arigatou," then left the girls.

Waiting for the moon to come up in the northern sky, Aya crawled out of bed, put on her jacket and checked on the girls through the door. When she knew they were all asleep she exited out the window and tested her leg on jumping through the rooftops. It was feeling much better now than earlier that day so she pushed past the remaining pain to speed through the night.

Aya was so excited her blood started pumping really fast. Taking the western pathway she veered north-west in a zigzag fashion incase anyone was following her. When she was positive she was alone she called to the north a mournful noise that was typically only heard by wild cats of the land.

"Nyoko, I'm coming, and you had better be alive," Ayaka whispered as she flew through the treetops.

-----------------------------------------

Kakashi stilled as he patiently waited. The branch didn't make a sound as his weight shifted slightly. Pakkun appeared and sat next to him.

"How much further?"

"They'll be here in a few seconds."

Just like the dog said, five ninja and two animals came bounding for them. The group stopped all around Kakashi.

"We're worried," Naruto said before putting his sack down, "they gave up too easily."

"They have a plan to attack us when we have our guard down," Neji commented confidently from behind Nyoko.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Lee replied and crossed his arms.

"Kakashi-senpai," Nyoko stepped closer to him, "how is my sister?"

"She's much better," he answered then started formulating a plan with the group on how things should go down in case they did attack.

Everyone agreed on the best course of action and were about to continue when they heard a loud crash.

A big guy, with many markings on his tan skin, pointed his finger at them and glared.

"You aren't getting away that easily!"

Nyoko gasped, "That's the ninja that kidnapped me."

Kiba stepped forward and Akamaru followed but Kakashi grabbed his jacket without moving anything but his arm.

"He's mine."

Kiba understood the implication and nodded.

"So which one of you pansies is going to fight me first?" The loud question echoed through the forest meaningfully.

Kakashi stepped forward onto a closer branch and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you acting so nonchalant? Do you think I'm that easy to beat?"

"This is going to be a breeze," the White Fang answered and slowly lifted his forehead protector with his pointer finger.

"We will see about that!" The ninja called forth a smoke cloud that had a face to it, "Assail, Guano!"

The dark smoke came roaring at Kakashi and he used a water jutsu to douse the face before jumping above it and flinging kunais and shurikens at the ninja. The big green-haired enemy got nicked by two of them but he was barely affected by the sharp weapons.

Laughing at Kakashi's first attempts, he started really dishing out some jutsu using his smoke character. They battled, all the while Kakashi wasn't getting hit but he was playing with him to find out what really could be used against him.

"Is that all you've got?" the tan beast called.

Kakashi felt something knick his arm and he smiled.

"You have guts," the ninja said and then he sneered, "but you aren't the fun kind to fight with…I prefer the pretty blonde that lost her fight when I took the little girl there." He pointed to Nyoko and Kiba put himself in front of her fully blocking the enemy's stare. "She tried her best but she just couldn't top me. My team wanted to have more fun but she was all business. It was a shame she had to be against us; I would have tamed her and made her mine if she wasn't so stubborn."

"She has more strength than what you have," Nyoko hollered at him.

"Oh? Then why did she fail to get you from me?"

Nyoko didn't have an answer because she wasn't conscious when the fight was going on. She wasn't even sure what all happened just that Aya fought five of them and conquered four.

Kakashi was keeping his anger in check from clouding his judgment but he flicked another twelve kunais at the opponent before appearing above him. He tried to slice him with chakra-filled water but the guy dodged him.

"It seems that you are offended by my comment," he boasted before casting away blood from his cheek. "Maybe I should tell you just how weak she is!" Smoke blasted from his hands in a powerful gust towards Kakashi.

Thankfully he was ready. Dodging the blast of air, Kakashi appeared behind him and a large, water-filled bubble surrounded the ninja. He was shocked at how fast Kakashi trapped him.

Kicking and clawing at the bubble's edges did little good, and with the struggle he lost some air he should have been saving.

Kakashi walked around to face him and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"It's a shame really. There was nothing you did that was worth copying."

It then hit the green-haired ninja that Kakashi had the Sharingan eye. He was trapped by it within seconds.

Along with eventually drowning, the ninja went through psychological torture before Kakashi allowed him peace to die.

Nyoko watched as Kakashi just crossed his arms over his chest and relaxed in his stance. She found satisfaction that Kakashi could handle the situation so well and Kiba didn't have to get involved.

"Let's get to the border before night falls on us."

The group left, the bubble slowly evaporating until it released its occupant hours later.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Taking shortcuts over wide rivers and deep ravines was easy, but when Aya caught up with the traveling group that had Nyoko and Takahiro safely in their care, she wasn't prepared to see Kakashi.

She was stunned. Ayaka almost turned beet red in anger but she gave herself time to cool off and observed until the time was right.

They were camping for the night to rest until daybreak. Naruto was sleeping, he appeared to have some bandages but he was snoring so she knew he was fine. Rock Lee was standing but his eyes were closed so Aya guessed he was resting as well. She searched a moment then spotted Neji lounging in a tree; he too seemed to be bruised yet stable. Her heart stopped when she didn't see Kiba or Akamaru but then she heard a quiet call echo through the trees and knew he must be hiding somewhere because he sensed her. Nyoko and Takahiro were sleeping soundly by the fire so Aya looked at the last person. Kakashi was in a tree branch opposite Neji and by the expression on his face he was thinking deeply about something as he stared into the fire below.

Ayaka was debating whether or not to approach when a warning went off in her head.

Ducking just in time, an object whizzed by her head and into the camp. Rock Lee was there in a second, kicking the object, which she noticed was a curved dagger, away from everyone.

Within an instant there were over a dozen enemy ninjas in fighting temperaments and aiming for the encampment. Aya stayed hidden, painting herself into the tree trunk without having to move, and waited until she was needed. It took a while but she remained.

Kakashi was excellent, she watched him with interest, then Nyoko started whipping out her techniques and took out four at once. Aya noticed her wrapped hand but knew it was healing properly so she didn't dwell on it.

Kiba appeared and helped her finish off two that wouldn't leave her alone.

Naruto was up and fighting within seconds of realizing their predicament. Rock Lee was having a grand time fighting the biggest assailant.

"Don't underestimate me!" Lee yelled before giving his opponent a nasty blow to the temple.

Aya peered through the leaves and saw Neji stumble from a blow of water gushing into his eyes. She paused but then reacted as he was about to fall into a trap that was laid out for him. Ayaka wasn't going to let him get hurt or caught.

Whipping into the air and flinging her sword downward, she severed the chakra filled fishing wire and sliced the man, who had made it, in half. Before the body pieces could land in the dirt, she painted a coffin and it fell directly into it. Neji stared for a moment until his mind caught up. When he understood what happened, he shook his head quickly and muttered something about how she shouldn't be there.

"You're welcome," Aya muttered before turning and seeing the group all looking at her. Their ambush was momentarily conquered and she was now the center of attention.

Nyoko brightened and was about to run to her when Kakashi stopped her with his hand.

"Ayaka," his voice was hard and strained, "what are you—"

Before she could answer she sensed a figure behind her. Snakes slithered around her ankles, wrists and throat and she was unprepared for the voice that followed.

"Ayaka," a creepy, yet familiar, voice sounded in her ear, "Just the woman I wanted. I see my men injured you in their first quest." A slimy hand wrapped around her thigh and her face twisted in disgust.

"Long time, no see, Ugly," Ayaka seethed confidently yet stressed by the hold on her throat.

Kakashi and the rest of the group were in fighting stance and keeping Nyoko behind them. Aya noticed a glisten of sweat bead across Kakashi's forehead and down his temple.

"To tell you the truth, I wanted you all along. You have put me in the need of your skills…you proved yourself in the _attempt_ to rescue your sister."

"Don't make it sound like I wasn't able to make you shiver in fear that I almost got her back." Her dislike for him gushed through her quick answer.

"I'll admit you almost got away with her, but that proves how much I need you."

"Too bad." She tried to shrug him off but he stayed fast. Her stern reply only made him smile behind her.

"Don't make me beg," he slithered his tongue across her earlobe and she had to restrain herself from loosing her lunch. Kakashi took three steps forward but stopped when Orochimaru started to laugh.

"Do I sense a large amount of jealousy coming from the White Fang of Konoha?"

"Let her go or I will kill you," Kakashi fumed and clenched his fists. The leather made a stretching sound and his jaw muscles flexed in his anger.

"This is not like you; shouldn't Naruto be the one defending the woman's honor?"

"This isn't my fight," Naruto said with a smirk.

"What is it you want, precisely?" Neji asked Orochimaru.

"Ayaka has the ability to create new techniques within days. She uses all of her own unique jutsus and _I want them…along with new ones, of course_."

"You are too childish and self-centered," Nyoko yelled from behind Kiba. "There is no way you would be able to get all of them. Besides, she would have to allow you to."

"That's why he wanted you, Nyoko," Ayaka said through clenched teeth. "You were the bait."

"And you still fell for it," Orochimaru laughed.

"It didn't hit me until your men showed up what this was all about," Ayaka stated.

"Well, you _can_ give it to me of your own free will," he replied syrupy.

"Never," she clenched and made it clear she was resolute. She tried once more to get free but to no avail.

"I think I may persuade you."

"I think you're nuts," she commented with a knowing smile and then, around the large group, an army of wild felines ranging from lions to lynxes, emerged from the shadows of the trees. Each panther, tiger, lion, lynx, and leopard was glaring at her captor. Growling and kneading at their places, the wild cats were ready to pounce and rip his flesh from his bone.

Each cat seemed normal until bullets of chakra shot out of Ayaka's fingers to each cat and they began to glow menacingly around their teeth and claws.

Orochimaru flung Ayaka on the ground with a snake to free his hands and summon his large snake, Manda, but Aya twisted in mid air, cut the snake, and rammed her sword through the top of his knee, down his leg, and into the ground.

Orochimaru, or whoever he was now, screamed in terror and pain as the group watched.

As blood dripped from his mouth, he grinned evilly, "I have an army of ninja ready to take out Konoha at my command. Now that your final answer is no, they will attack as you hear from afar."

Ayaka rammed another sword deeper with a thrust into his gut and smiled with her mouth as she glared through her eyes, "I suppose you didn't count on the fact that my cats have already eradicated that so-called army of yours…notice the blood in their fur?"

The figure, which embodied Orochimaru's soul, glared at her with such hate that she could cut_ it_ with her blades, too.

"Nyoko!" she called.

Nyoko ran through the group of guys to Aya and held the sword in place adding her own chakra to the mix. Aya then proceeded to paint a binding metal and cement mix around Orochimaru so he couldn't remove the blades. Slowly and finally, he lost all the blood possible to remain conscious and passed out. His encased body fell backward into a dark coffin and the lid landed in place with a loud, solid _clunk_. Ayaka made sure that there was no escaping if he should wake up and then sighed in exhaustion.

Nyoko ran up to her sister for a big hug.

"I thought he almost had you!"

"So did I, for a minute there," Aya responded and beamed down on her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, a few scraps here and there but I'll live. What about you?"

"Yep, a few scraps here and there but I'll live, too," Ayaka replied with lightness.

"Ayaka," Kakashi called from a few feet behind her. Her heart fell to the ground as she heard the harshness in his voice.

"I'm going to go to back to bed now," Nyoko murmured and walked back to the blankets.

Ayaka watched Kiba trail after her and start talking quietly in her ear. Wishing she didn't have to face Kakashi, she looked away from the happy pair and kept her back toward Kakashi's direction.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" she emphasized back at him. "You could've told me you were coming to help them." She gave into her natural sway and faced him to make eye contact.

"You are still recovering, there was no way I was going to let you risk more injury."

"What, you don't want to take care of me anymore?" she tried with a sharpness that he would understand.

"This isn't a time to be joking, Ayaka. For your own protection, you should have listened to me and stayed there."

"I'm not worried about myself, I know my limits."

"I doubt that, you tried walking when you were far from ready," he shot back.

"This all worked out fine, Kakashi, why are you on my case about this?"

"What if it hadn't turned out 'fine'?!"

Ayaka stepped back from him in surprise at his outburst. In a display of frustration Kakashi slipped off his arm protectors that he wore with his ANBU garb and threw them down on the moist earth. Naruto glanced up but shockingly didn't say anything. Neji tried his best to ignore their arguing but was ready incase he needed to separate them.

"I don't know; who cares what didn't happen? We're safe and that's all that matters."

"I care what could've happened because if I lost you—!"

Kakashi didn't mean to yell, he also didn't intend for everyone to witness his emotions getting the better of him, so when Ayaka pulled him into the thicket and away from the others he was secretly thankful.

He also wasn't prepared for Ayaka's fast effort to remove his mask and start kissing him silly. He didn't try to stop her, either. He felt the need as much as she did. Intensifying the kiss was easy and adding passion from pent up emotions was more than easy, it was instinctive and dangerous. Pushing up against her gently, he backed her into a thick tree trunk.

Aya felt the roughness of the tree behind her but she ignored it. His power over her was driving her to distraction as it was, she didn't care about the tree. Her heart pounded against her rib cage and her hands intertwined in the hair at the nape of his neck.

Kakashi's left arm was holding her to him and his right hand held her face. His kisses descended down the side of her face and onto her neck. Ayaka found it hard to breathe when he did this and she experienced lightning go down her spine…or maybe it was chakra. She finally understood what he meant during the picnic conversation.

He came back to her lips for a couple more kisses and then stopped to look at her face.

"I should scold you for taking Orochimaru out when I told him it was I that was going to finish him off."

"Just as long as your scolding involves more kisses…scold away," she murmured, failing to hide her smile.

"You were amazing."

"So were you."

They kissed hastily in unison.

"How long were you there?" He slid some stray hairs away from her ear with the tips of his fingers.

"I got there right before the pack of repulsive hooligans attacked." Aya closed her eyes as her flesh got bumpy.

"Don't tell anybody, but I'm glad you came," his voice was low and Aya could sense his feelings within her chest just by his tone.

Laughing impulsively, Ayaka grabbed his face in both hands and sealed a kiss on his lips for a moment before leaning into him with a hug.

They stood there hugging for a long while until they decided it would be best to get back to the group and rest.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Konoha welcomed the group with a large celebration. Tsunade looked somewhat happy to have them back and asked Ayaka to see her in her office when the festivities were dieing down. They held a huge feast for Orochimaru's capture, all members of ANBU made sure it was him that was being imprisoned.

Ayaka watched as Kiba took Nyoko's hand and led her away from all the adoring fans. She smiled because he didn't look happy about all the guys that were flocking to her.

Uncrossing her arms from across her chest, Aya headed for Tsunade's mansion to have her meeting.

'I'm not going to like this…why did she ask me to meet with her tonight, of all nights?' She sighed audibly, 'Is she going to scold me like an adolescent? I already got yelled at about leaving the apartment.' Then a smile spread across her face in memory of her and Kakashi in the woods. 'I wonder where Kakashi ran off to…'

She took the stairs instead of jumping up and leveled her breathing as she reached the landing. Walking into the lit doorway, she saw Shizune and Tsunade whispering by the window.

"You wanted to see me?" Aya asked and proceeded into the room.

"Ayaka, I'm glad you're here. I assume you've had a discussion about your misjudgment in going after the troupe." Tsunade took her seat at her desk.

"Hai, I want to apologize for any damage I might have done."

"You did worry the girls, I thought Sakura was going to loose all decorum when she found you were missing under her care."

"I'll have to remember to apologize to her." Ayaka kept her eyes set on the edge of Tsunade's desk in fear that she would be disrespectful somehow.

"She claims you were not well enough to go off fighting."

"I was fine. I heal differently than most people."

"Yes, I know, but you can't think of yourself in such a careless way."

"Next time I will follow your orders detail by detail."

"Regretfully, there will not be a next time in the near future."

Aya felt time stop for a moment as she looked questioningly at Tsunade. "What do you mean?"

"Your assignment here in Konoha is finished, Kakashi turned in the finished paperwork before he left for the mission."

"I see. Do you like the plans?" Ayaka tried to ignore the empty feeling that started to crawl through her veins at the thought of leaving Konoha. Small talk was all she could think of.

"Hai, they are starting tomorrow on the foundation. They are excellent, not a thing out of miss. Maybe your injuries were helpful in making them get done quicker than we had first discussed."

"I had nothing else to do while lying in bed and I wanted them to be ahead of schedule."

"We thank you," Shizune replied sweetly and picked up Ton-Ton.

"I was happy to do it," Aya smiled with her mouth politely but Tsunade caught the sadness that swept over Aya's eyes.

"Will you be leaving soon?" Tsunade asked as she shuffled through some papers on her desk.

"Hai, my sister and I have plans to rebuild our village."

"Just the two of you?" Shizune questioned in surprise.

"We can handle it, besides I can't ask for help if your men will be busy building your new complexes."

"True," Shizune stated with a worried expression and glanced to see Tsunade's reaction.

"Don't worry; I'm feeling much better thanks to your help. Sakura is amazing in what she has learned. She will go far and most likely marry well…if she wishes."

"I will send some extra medication with you incase you get injured in the future," Tsunade wrote down something, "I also want some of my ninjas to escort you home."

"That isn't necessary, Tsunade Hime," Ayaka affirmed, holding out her hands, "We've traveled alone before without male escorts."

"I insist."

"So do I," Shizune replied with a large smile.

"Okay," Aya sighed, "but I don't believe we will need it."

"It's for precaution. You two are beautiful young women and that's too tempting for some scoundrels."

"It was wonderful having you here, Ayaka-sama," Shizune claimed and Ton-Ton echoed a positive response.

"It was wonderful being here," Ayaka said and nodded, "Excuse me, I must go, it's been a long day."

Tsunade and Shizune nodded back to her and watched her leave.

When Aya got to the bottom of the stairs she wasn't able to hold back her tears any longer. A sob escaped her throat so she covered her mouth before turning toward the mountain. Looking up at the majestic faces she felt the pull to go up there for some solitude and a place where no one would see her cry.

The climb up was harder than she remembered but she took into consideration that her leg was the only other thing hurting, besides her heart. She reached the top and the wind whipped her hair around her in strong waves of light and dark golden hues. Closing her eyes she let the wet drops cascade down her cheeks.

The noise from the party below was faint mostly but it would roar up every once in a while. Aya knew there was reason for merriment but she felt none of it.

Her heart was suffering from the thought of loosing the only thing she wanted to keep. She decided to sit on an elevated rock and leaned her elbows on her knees. More wind came to dry the streaks of moisture on her face but she still wiped the saltiness away.

'I hope I don't cry when I leave…' another sob hiccupped out of her and she buried her face in her arms.

--------------------------------------------

"Kiba-kun, you didn't have to pull me away from people, don't you think they'll find that rude?" Nyoko asked perturbed at his silent guidance. He had led her away from the festivities to an abandoned, quiet part of town.

"I don't care what they think actually," he said shrugging and kept her hand in his even after they stopped.

Nyoko looked around and saw closed shops but the paper lanterns glowed softly and lovely scents wrapped around them.

"Is there something bothering you?"

"No…" Kiba said quickly and his voice peaked at a higher range like he was going through puberty. His ears turned red as he cleared his throat.

Nyoko smiled knowingly and slowly shook her head, "Whenever a guy is lying his voice goes up an octave. What's with you?"

"I don't like crowds," he stated and let go of her hand.

Giving him a questioning look made him look away from her so she put her hands on her hips and waited.

Time ticked by until Kiba couldn't stand much more silence, she obviously was not going to give in that nothing was on his mind.

Kiba sighed.

"I never apologized to you for that day, did I?"

Nyoko knew which day he was referring to.

"You don't have to; I'm the one who needs to apologize…"

"I was mad because I was embarrassed, not because you did anything wrong. You were just playing around." Kiba knew there was more he wanted to say but he was trying to brace himself for her reaction. Good thing this topic was going well, he thought.

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. Then she stopped smiling when Kiba frowned and looked away.

"Would it be weird…I mean, if someone told you they…How would you react to someone saying they liked you?"

Nyoko's expression went from teasing inquiry to stunned understanding.

"I…Kiba…do you like me?"

'She gets right to the point, doesn't she?' Kiba thought heavily.

"Just answer the question," he replied a little irritated that he couldn't express himself charmingly like other guys.

"Well, I suppose I would…" she looked down and her voice softened as she hid her small grin, "I would tell him how _I_ felt."

"Anything else?" he asked wondering if she would smack him in the face or something.

"I would give him a kiss." Nyoko was still not looking at Kiba but she heard him shift his stance on the pebbles below them. 'Did he back away from me?' she thought as she glanced up.

Kiba couldn't hold back his shock. His jaw went slack and he could feel his knees get weak. He thought she'd do something physical, but not something sweet, more like hurl something at the guy.

"Kiba-kun?" Nyoko almost believed he was going to fall back into the wall behind him. His eyes were round and his knees were buckled beneath him.

"You'd do what?" he requested with a squeak in his voice.

Nyoko wondered if Kiba was coming down with a bad cold. His ears were red, his face was slightly flushed, his eyes looked a little glazed over and he kept gulping like he was dehydrated. Now he couldn't hear her…

"I said I would probably tell him how I felt and then if I liked him too, I'd give him a kiss."

The innocence in the statement made Kiba take another moment of pause.

"Nyoko-chan…" her eyebrow went up in question for him to continue, "I know we didn't get along too well in the beginning, but I want to get this off my chest…"

"What's that, Kiba-kun?" she asked amiably so that he would keep going.

"I…I've…uh…" Nyoko stepped closer and Kiba gulped again before continuing, "I think I've fallen for you."

Kiba sighed as though someone took a heavy load off his shoulders.

Nyoko brightened and stepped one more foot closer to Kiba, "Do you mean that?"

He looked up to see her smiling at him and his heart almost stopped.

"Hai, I mean it—!" Nyoko grabbed his jacket collar and pulled it to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and waited for him to catch up with his thoughts.

Kiba slowly collected himself and found the sense to wrap his arms around her petite shoulders and tuck her tighter to his chest. He definitely didn't expect her to hug him so fiercely before he had barely admitted his feelings for her.

He didn't mind, though.

"Kiba…" she murmured from the side her face was turned, "I was so worried my love for you was going to be unrequited."

He pulled back from her slightly and she looked up into his face. Slowly he leaned forward and their lips met gently yet unquestionably.

For it being their first kiss ever, both were sure they liked kissing.

----------------------------------------------------

As moments passed Aya knew it was going to end badly. She couldn't control herself. How was she going to say goodbye without loosing all composure? Ayaka tried to remember the last time she cried so hard.

The loss of her parents.

Her heart constricted in her chest painfully but she didn't want to think about that day. That day was why she had to move on and rebuild their village.

"I'm not strong enough…" she whispered out loud. She wasn't strong enough to leave Konoha but she had to. What would her parents think if she left everything they worked for to ruin? To be forgotten?

Her weeping was making her drowsy but she remained there because she wasn't done letting it out. However long it took, she was going to finish crying before seeing anyone face to face. Especially Kakashi.

"Ugh, I don't want to think about it," she murmured and wiped her cheeks again.

"You don't want to think about what?" a soft but masculine voice asked her from behind.

"Ouhhhhhhh…" she bellowed and hid her face in her arms again. "Kakashi, I didn't want to see you right now." Her voice was muffled but he could understand her.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked concerned because her nose sounded stuffed.

"No, I'm not, now please leave…" she didn't want to whine but it came out slightly that way regardless.

"Do you have a fever? Should I take you to the hospital?"

"No, darling, I'm just not in the mood for company…"

"What did you just call me?" he asked in pleased astonishment.

"Kakashi, I really don't want to talk right now," she lifted her head to so her voice wouldn't be muffled and mistakenly showed her tear-streaked face. He stared at her swollen eyes, nose and mouth and became very serious.

"What is it? What's the matter, Aya?" he approached her but she backed away and got off the rock. She stepped over to the edge that was opposite him.

"I'm fine," she stated as she sniffed and cleared her face with a piece of cloth.

"You're crying—"

"I'm not." She tried to cut him off but he still said it.

"Tell me."

"…I'm leaving," she finally claimed and kept her back to him. Fresh tears filled her vision and she hated herself for it.

Kakashi was so taken aback that his breathing became labored within two seconds and he couldn't think straight for a few minutes.

"When?" His tone reminded her of stone.

"Tomorrow," she sighed out with a quick intake of breath after.

"Why?"

"Our assignment is done, you turned it in, remember?"

"I thought you would still need healing time, or at least oversee the construction…"

"Tsunade knows I've recovered and I assume you will oversee the building—

"I don't want…I can't, not like you could," he corrected himself and sighed at his outburst.

"Oh Kakashi, it's the hardest thing for me to leave Konoha, to leave you…"

"Then don't do it." He was angry and she didn't blame him.

"What about my village? Do I just leave it in ruins?"

"You leave it in the past. Isn't that what you taught me? To move on, live life in the here and now?"

"I need to rebuild it."

"You don't need to do anything except stay here with me," his voice softened only slightly.

Ayaka laughed a single light snicker at his come-back. "You tempt me…"

"I will do anything to convince you to live here," he smiled and walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her and held onto her securely. He lightly rested his chin on the top of her hair. He felt her clasp his hands that rested on either side of her ribs.

Aya sighed and a hiccup escaped from her lips from all her crying. "I know you would, that's partially why I didn't want to see you right now."

"What was the other part?"

"I look horrible when I cry…"

Turning her around and lifting her face to meet his, he studied it with playful judgment, "No, I don't see anything horrible here…you're beautiful." His voice was serious when he finished the phrase.

"You're being too sweet to me…is this more of your persuading?"

"Maybe…It _is_ the truth, though."

"So you found your heart's voice at last…"

It took Kakashi a moment and then realized she was right, he had found it. He wasn't able to vocalize it earlier but now it was like tapping into a thought process and saying it out loud.

"It's all your fault," he said with a grin.

"Oh now you're going to play accusation games?" she asked teasingly.

"Arigatou," he murmured before kissing her on the forehead with his mask still on.

Ayaka opened her eyes and looked back up at him with a nostalgic smile, "No problem."

Kakashi laughed at her using his saying and pulled her to him. "I'm not letting you go."

"It'll be difficult to walk down those steps hugging like this," she joked some more but he leaned his cheek against her temple.

"You know what I mean."

"Hai, I do."

His mask made it hard for his breathing to be felt, so when she felt movement and his exhale of air on her cheek, she realized he had removed it.

Backing a couple inches away and studying his face in the light of the partial moon, Ayaka's eyes followed the trail of scars. Boldly, she traced down his cheek and neck with her fingers. He stood there, still as a statue in her assessment of his scars, but as she did that, he watched her with his lids half closed like usual.

Kakashi took his thumb and rubbed the tear trail off of her flushed cheeks then went for her mouth. His light touch on her swollen lips made her quiver from the inner marrow of her bones to the pores in her skin.

"Will you still choose to leave me after all we've been through?" he spoke softly into the fragile air between them.

Aya's mouth hung open slightly but she couldn't figure out what to say. Then she grasped what she would have back in the remains of her village, no one but herself and her sister working hard for something that had its place in time but was no more. It would be lonely and they would miss out on a life of happiness with people who accepted them, loved them, and cared about them.

Grabbing his head and getting on her tip toes so that she could whisper in his ear she replied, "If it is your wish, I will never leave your side."

"Hai, that is my wish, Ayaka," he said back to her as he settled his insides from the spell she seemed to always wrap around him.

"What is your wish?" a female voice came from behind them. They separated and turned to the voice in question.

Tsunade stood there with her hands on her hips and a brow higher than the other.

"It is my wish to keep it to myself, Hokage." Kakashi wasn't going to discuss his personal business no matter who it was.

"Ayaka-sama, I think it would be wise to stay here for the remainder of your days, and you are welcome to…as long as you have a husband from Konoha."

Aya gasped in surprise before she could hold it back and Kakashi stood up straighter in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ayaka asked finally.

"I mean, that you must be married to a member of Konoha village to settle here, your visa doesn't allow you to stay indefinitely."

"The reason for that is because our Hokage was killed and my sister and I couldn't get the papers changed in time."

"I realize this, but if I allow you to settle here, then I have no grounds to get rid of the other refugees wanting to stay in the safety of our borders. I'm sorry."

"How much time do I have?"

"Until the end of the term stated in our contract," the blonde woman claimed.

"That means I have forty days to find a husband here?"

"Hai, yet I doubt it will be hard, seeing what has developed between you two…" she said with meaning in her voice.

Aya blushed heavily and Kakashi gave Aya a sideward look. He appeared concerned but she was unsure how he felt.

Tsunade left silently to go to bed and get some rest before dawn. She hid her knowing smile from the couple but reminded herself to give Shizune a bonus payment for her plan to finish this arrangement with the two jounin.

Ayaka sighed deeply, "I don't think I've ever been through such an ordeal like this before, I swear this has been the longest six months of my life…"

Kakashi still didn't say anything and it worried Ayaka where his thoughts were.

"Kakashi…I hope you don't feel pressured into asking me whatever Tsunade was implying, I wouldn't ask that of you if you weren't ready," she stumbled through her thoughts vocally and hoped it made sense. "She has this idea in her head that she is going to find me the perfect husband and she never asked if I was even ready for such a thing, I'm not sure how she even knew I was up here…"

When Kakashi continued to stay silent she stopped her chatter. Slowly, she headed for the stairs.

"Are you ready for matrimony now?" was his concluding question, which made her freeze.

"Only if it's you," she said barely loud enough for him to catch. Before she could spin around to see his reaction he was in front of her smoothing her hair out of her face.

"Will you become my wife?" he asked looking into her eyes for confirmation.

Aya processed it slowly but she was quick to smile and touched his cheek prior to answering with a simple, "Of course I will."

Kakashi lifted her off the ground and kissed her on the lips. Their embrace was back lit by the dawning of a new day.

Epilogue

Naruto thanked the Ichiraku Ramen owner who passed him the bowl of ramen and was ready to dig in when laughter behind him made him turn around.

He clamped his mouth shut as he registered what he saw.

Kiba was holding Nyoko's hand and their fingers were intertwined. The two were amused about something and their pets happily trailed behind them.

Then, as if it was Valentines Day, the next couple about to pass had their pinky fingers locked tightly together. The tall jounin he once knew as his sensei winked at him, as the beautiful blonde jounin connected to him, waved sweetly. They kept walking past him but he still watched until they disappeared around a corner.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and then slowly started to smile.

--Fin--


End file.
